


Bad Timing

by Llixale



Series: True Love série [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:53:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25331206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llixale/pseuds/Llixale
Summary: Some moments are worst than others to find out you have a soulmate.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson
Series: True Love série [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1190170
Comments: 27
Kudos: 50





	1. Invitation

When Steve came back and announced that he would be staying in the ”past” to start a life with Peggy Carter, Sam’s mind went blank. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Steve gave him the shield and the mantle of Captain America only a few minutes earlier so he still have this weird smile on his face.

He was so shocked in fact, he asked his friend to repeat everything from the start.

”I think I can have it, finally, a bit of happiness”

And Steve looked so hopeful, Sam felt unable to say anything back. In retrospect, he should have. He looked at Bucky and had the sudden certainty that Bucky knew about Steve’s plans before he stepped a foot on this platform.

Steve took Bucky in his arms, saying that he still could come with him if he wanted. The other man answered by the negative before the blond walked to Bruce or rather, professor Hulk now.

” _Are you going to be okay?_ ” Bucky asked then, a softness in his voice Sam wasn't used to but only silence answered him.

It just added to the dogshit pile of things going wrong since they got back from the dead or whatever. The _blip_.

From Thanos itself to Natasha's death or the state of the world they came back in...and now, Steve was leaving to make his life in the past. Or an alternative version of the past, that part wasn’t exactly clear to him, to be honest.

He stayed a moment looking at this man, the shield in his hands.

A year passed and Steve managed to “visit” a few times. Sam was absent during all of them so it was Bucky who told him the news, exactly one year and two months after Steve left.

“ _I have something to tell you_ ”

Sam was barely back from a mission when the long-haired man came to him before he could put a foot in their headquarters.

“ _Please tell me Quill did not left another one of these horrible blood-spitting creatures here_ ”

Sam was only half joking but Bucky wasn’t even smiling. He showed a white and silver envelope, Sam Wilson written on it in a beautiful way.

He took the envelope, opening it quickly to reveal a card. He read, read it again, passed a hand on his eyes and read it once more.

Sam was really about to explode but he checked himself quickly in front of Bucky. Not fast enough thought.

“ _Well. I guess this would be one reason for you to have a nicer haircut. You need to trim those ends man_ ” he joked, words getting a bit stuck in his throat.

“ _Sam..._ ”

“ _Is Sharon invited? That would be weird. It would be, right? I mean..._ ”

“ _Sam!_ ” Bucky repeated with more strength.

The sun was practically down but it did nothing to hide Sam’s features as he tried to come up with something that would keep his tears at bay.

“ _I need to debrief_ ”

He escaped quickly, or, more accurately, Bucky let him go for now. He did do the debrief, that part wasn’t a lie, doing his maximum to focus his mind on the real problems of the world and not on the burning paper in his pocket.

It turned out to be all for nothing when his phone started to vibrate only a few minutes after he was done with the paperwork.

“ _Tic Tac?_ ” He welcomed, starting to make his way to his place.

The compound was buzzing with energy and he appreciated that most of the Avengers quarters were in the quietest places.

“ _So...he really isn’t coming back? Like...I thought it was just for a few months you know?_ ”

Sam did not know what to say to Scott. He hadn’t realized It would be like that. That they would live parallel lives. Steve somewhere, somewhen else and the rest of them years in the future.

“ _He found his happiness_ ”

Scott went silent for a moment “ _Are you going?_ ”

“ _I guess. I don’t know. Listen, I have to go, see you later man_ ”

He felt safe only once the door of his place closed behind him. He took the envelope, putting it in from of him on the living room table and read its content again.

A wedding.

* * *

When Steve came back to the apartment he shared with Peggy, he promised himself that he would not trouble her with his problems.

His fiancée came home two hours later, discharging her black heels with a satisfied moan.

She called his name and he quickly made his way from their bedroom to the living room, kissing her tenderly.

“ _How was your day?_ ”

Peggy chuckled “ _Are you asking me because you don’t want to talk about your trip?_ ”

It wasn’t a secret that Steve sometimes found Peggy’s ability to read him like a book a bit annoying but most of the time, he loved that about her.

“ _I just want to talk about you and your day. Did Berts arrested Dandelion?_ ”

She wasn’t fooled but humored him until she took a shower and got more comfortable. Smart, she waited long enough for him to let his guard down, right after diner. A full Steve was more receptive to her questions.

“ _So, have you seen your friend earlier?_ ”

“ _Bucky? Yeah, we went to..._ ”

“ _The one that flies, Steve_ ”

“ _Carol?_ ” He suggested with a confused face.

“ _Oh, honey, if you keep pretending not to know who I’m talking about..._ ” she moved to stand behind him, bending so she could whisper in his ear “ _I won’t use that one cream you like tonight_ ”

Steve frowned, “ _Peg’! Come on, I waited all week for this. What do that have to do with Sam?_ ”

“ _Oh, so you know who I am talking about_ ” she replied with enthusiasm, kissing Steve’s cheek with an amused grin.

“ _He doesn’t want to see me. Even when I make sure he is around, he always manages to run away, at this point it's a super power_ ”

Peggy roller her eyes “ _When you really want to find someone, you find them Steve. Maybe you are giving him too much space. What about a change in strategy_ ”

He agreed with her but he had no intention of thinking too much about his friend. It would only end up with pain and sadness (and maybe a weird form of regrets).

One of the thing that still permeated his mind no matter what was that Sam did not want to actually see him. No matter the day or the time, Sam would be busy. What started, apparently, as unfortunate missed opportunities soon revealed itself as a well-orchestrated and very aware thing.

Steve has been angry at first, unable to understand why Sam would go out of his way to avoid him. They didn’t fight and there was no bad blood between them so it felt especially ridiculous to earn that reaction for months. He had asked Bucky, then Bruce and even Wanda but no one knew.

Only Bucky would try to help him but so far, Sam hadn’t answered positively to his attempts.

The idea of getting married without Sam there felt ridiculous. There should be no way that Sam would miss it, as his best friend.

While he joined her in their bedroom, a lump had formed in his throat at the idea. Peggy was right, it was time for a change in strategy.

* * *

Sure, Sam thought he should go to the wedding but as the days went and the date got closer, he really tried to find any excuse to be absent.

That was until Steve went to the compound while Sam and Bucky were animatedly discussing what to have for diner. Usually, Agent Davis would warn Sam about any portal utilization so he could anticipate.

“ _We are not having sushi for the third time this week! Enough is enough!_ ”

“ _But it’s good! Let’s take that boat, Sam. You know you want to. Last time you said no but your sister and her soulmate did and it looked tasty_ ”

“ _Ugh, shut it_ ”

“ _You know you want to, Sammy_ ” Bucky teased “ _...think about the delicious...Steve?!_ ”

“ _Delicious Steve?_ ” Sam repeated with a large smile, unaware of the man right behind him “ _I knew you were that type of guy Bucky, I knew you were! But he is a taken man now, you should have snatched him before. Don’t look at me like that, it’s the truth...what? Why are you doing that thing with your mouth? Dude, speak, use your words_ ”

“ _Hi guys_ ” Steve’s voice was so close to Sam, he jumped away.

“ _WHAT THE F...Rogers? What are you doing here?_ ” Sam asked, immediately consulting his phone in case he missed the warning by Davis.

“ _I’m happy to see you too, Sam_ ” Steve answered with tight lips and a raised brow. This added a whole other part to the sentence. The “ _I have been looking for you but you kept running away_ ” kind. Sam was screwed.

He looked like himself, only with longer hair and a shaved face. It was hard to fathom that they weren’t seeing much of each other these days. Sam missed him and wanted him gone at the same time, a pool of pettiness right in the middle of whatever affection he had for the man. He managed to avoid him but now that they were face to face, he just felt stupid.

“ _Didn’t know you were coming, punk_ ” Bucky welcomed with a warm embrace.

Steve looked right into Sam’s eyes with attitude, they both could hear the “ _Otherwise, Sam would have disappeared again_ ” loud in his mind.

“ _Yeah, it wasn’t prepared. Anyway, I need your help. Apparently, I should have a bachelor party. Also, Sam, this is weird, I didn’t received your confirmation, you know, about your attendance_ ”

“ _Ha_ ” Sam feigned innocence, “ _Yeah, weird man, must have forget_ ”

Steve laughed, between doubt and amusement “ _You forgot… my marriage?_ ”

“ _I have been sort of busy lately. Looking this good takes time you know?_ ”

Steve checked Sam from head to toe. If Sam did not knew better, he would think it was almost predatory. “ _Yeah, I guess_ ” then, as if a switch went on, suddenly much more serious he added “ _I haven’t talk to you since..._ ”

Bucky already knew this could turn a bit ugly, he decided to intervene “ _What If we talked about that bachelor thing at the Royal Green? Steve, you’re not in a hurry right?_ ”

“ _Not really_ ” he answered with his eyes still locked on the black man. Sam did not like that. It made him feel small and ready to fight at the same time.

“ _Perfecto_ ” Bucky continued, and before Sam could get out of it, he finished with “ _your treat Stevie’_ ”

“ _Of course. Don’t use that excuse to eat like to have three stomachs thought_ ”

Bucky easily put his arm over Steve’s shoulder, dragging him outside while Sam hesitated. It was much easier to avoid Steve when he wasn’t around, he thought. Suddenly he felt parched, his body yearning for him. He hated it and did not understand where that was coming from but Steve was water and he was lost in a desert.

Sam did managed to whisper a thank you to Bucky during diner, when Steve went to the restroom.

“ _You have to talk to him, birdie. You can’t push him out like that_ ”

“ _I know Buck, believe me, I know, I just...it’s like I can think straight when it comes to him_ ”

“ _Yeah_ ” Bucky nodded, looking dead serious “ _I get the “Not straight part” alright I think_ ”

Sam, realizing his words tried to backtrack, only to have Bucky smile “ _It’s okay, we’ll talk about it later, he’s coming back_ ”

Five seconds later, Steve was sitting again.

“ _So, I was thinking, only Thor and you haven’t met Peggy yet. I mean, the one I marrying_ ” he stopped, expecting a reaction from Sam who just let the rim of his glass roll on his lips with a neutral face. “ _It would be nice if we could organize that before the Bachelor party. What do you think?_ ”

“ _Yeah, okay_ ” he answered while looking for the waiter, already praying that a mission would get him out of here. It was a very plausible and convenient excuse after all.

“ _Are you sure? Because you kind of..._ ”

“ _What about desert guy? Anyone want to take something?_ ” Bucky cut with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“ _Buck_ ” Steve was scowling now, knowing what he was trying to do “ _We are just talking_ ”

Sam felt his heartbeat quicken as the certainty of a fight with Steve became closer. He didn’t want to, but his own feelings could only be bottled for so long before he had to speak up for himself.

“ _Less talking, more eating. What about that?_ ” Bucky asked, still hopeful.

Steve frowned at him, his jaw moved to indicate that whatever he wanted to say, he would not hold it for long. Oh, the memories came back to Bucky. The number of fight Steve got them into because of that mouth, unbelievable. He loved the guy to death but Steve always been like that, they had their own fare share of little fights over the years.

“ _Why haven’t I seen you since I came back? I thought you would support my decision_ ”

“ _Steve, we are in a restaurant with people in it. Maybe we could have that conversation later?_ ” Bucky tried, not bothering anymore to hide that he did not want a public scene.

“ _Why? He will disappear the second I have my eyes elsewhere. I want to know what is going on, now_ ”

Bucky finally stayed silent, Steve’s voice may be whispering but it was already dripping with poison.

“ _Bucky’s right. Not here_ ” Sam casually added, acting more in control and detached that he really was. Maybe he should already felt lucky Steve took all this time to say something. Not that it helped Sam get his thoughts clearer anyway.

Sam’s intervention pissed Steve even more but it wasn’t enough to make him wait.

“ _Okay, then let’s go_ ” he said, getting up suddenly. His wallet appeared in his hand in the blink of an eye making the poor waiter behind him jump in surprise. They walked away to pay.

Sam exhaled slowly “ _Let’s go_ ” he said to Bucky.

“ _You know he wants to chew you out right?_ ”

“ _You think that guy has more ammo than me? Please, I’m going to lit this fool like a fucking Christmas tree_ ”

Bucky sighted loudly, following his two friends. He was the one driving and he did his best not to arrive as fast as he could. Even then, with Steve’s patience running its course, he did not tried to play too much. It was one thing to try to protect Sam, it would be another if he had to suffer the wrath of Steve Rogers himself.

When they recognized the familiar road leading to the large construction, the air in the car became instantly thicker.

“ _For the love of God, Bucky, if you drive any slower I swear.._.”

Bucky drove the last distance as if he had the Devil himself behind his ass. A drift later and he was cleanly parked. Sam guessed that even Bucky was reaching his limit.

“ _You’re in a hurry to fight uh? Always been, fucking dickhead. Go ahead! What are you waiting for? Get out of the car and start punching each other like you wanted to for a year now_ ” and he got out of the vehicle, slamming the door in a anger Sam rarely seen.

He remembered when Bucky was so reserved with his feelings and now, well, now wasn’t exactly the time to marvel at Bucky’s progress.

They were two in the car, Steve on the passenger seat and Sam in the back. Bucky choose the less used parking floor which meant they were virtually alone.

“ _Sam_ ” Steve softly said, a tone surprising his friend but not enough to appease him “ _I thought you wanted me to be happy. I am_ ”

“ _And I thought it would be in the present, I was wrong_ ”

“ _I never thought I would be able to go back to the past. It never was an option until Scott’s idea. What was I supposed to do?_ ”

“ _Yeah. Well, you took your chance and left_ ” Sam added.

“ _I come back every months! You are the one who's never there. I have to chase you to get you to talk to me. Why are you avoiding me?_ ”

“ _Whatever man_ ”

Steve turned in his seat to face Sam “ _No, it’s not whatever, Sam. I missed you and you don’t care_ ”

“ _I don’t care?!_ ” He let a chuckle escape him “ _You know what, you are right. I do not care. I do not care about your wedding with Peggy the clone and I don’t care about you going back to an era where people like me barely got any rights. I certainly don’t care about you when I put my life in your hand. That’s your fucking happiness dude? Then go_ ”

Steve’s face was red, Sam could see it even with the dim light of the parking.

“ _What did you say about Peggy?_ ”

“ _What? You can excuse racism and homophobia but me saying that you basically creating a whole ass new timeline is where you draw the line?_ ”

Sam knew he was going way too far but Steve wanted it. He was the one insisting to have that discussion. Steve turned back to face the front of the car, back to Sam.

“ _Don’t come_ ” he said, the words heavy of meaning.

Sam got out of the car, breath heavy. _Fuck you, Steve Rogers_ , he thought while walking to the main entrance of the head. He felt his anger bubbling under the surface. Steve had the audacity to be mad? Who wanted to go to that stupid wedding anyway? Not him, that was for sure.

His heart was beating fast, the walk to the place he was currently living in felt incredibly short. It was probably due to all of his thoughts turned toward one man only. He repeated to himself that he did not care, hoping it would start to ring true to his own self but it didn’t.

* * *

The following week was okay but the one after that went downhill quickly.

Scott has managed to access a pocket dimension a bit out of time where Peggy and other people from the past could meet people from the present without it ruining the timeline too much.

At least, if some rules were respected.

Professor Hulk insisted on some of them but Sam wasn’t feeling concerned. He wasn’t going there anyway and did not have a young counterpart to avoid.

In fact, the only reason he was near Scott and the dimension/time travelling machine was to learn more about its use. Scott, Hope and Hulk were explaining everything with enthusiasm. So much so, Hulk accidentally put his large hand on the console, crushing it a bit and immediately starting something no one understood in the five seconds it took for the machine to send a worrisome white flash.

“ _Steve?_ ”

Sam turned to the platform where Steve, Bucky and a woman Sam recognized immediately were now standing.

“ _Banner_ ” Sam said coldly.

“ _I must have...it’s an accident!_ ”

“ _Bruce, what is going on?_ ” Steve asked then, prompting Hope and Scott to work faster.

“ _Seems like he brought you back with Peggy instead of just the two of you_ ” Hope explained, irritated.

Scott immediately jumped on the occasion the reassure his green friend “ _The console needs some work but in an hour or two, it will be okay_ ”

Sam wondered if he could make an escape during their conversation and felt the tree behind him. If he managed to get behind it, he should be able to use the general fuss to join the cars and leave.

“ _You must be Sam Wilson I presume_ ” Peggy Carter said, coming closer without any pause “ _I started to wonder if I ever would meet the man before the big day_ ”

She presented her hand to him and Sam did not felt well at all suddenly.

He took the hand, almost without thinking, giving an equally firm handshake “ _Sorry for the inconvenience Madam_ ” he said, eager to find a way to end this conversation.

“ _Nonsense, it’s not everyday that I have an occasion to see the future for myself_ ”

He agreed with her, and before he could say anything else, Bucky’s voice resonated “ _What about a drink while we let the brains work this out? I’m sure Sam is going to join us. Right Sam?_ ”

Sam looked at him, forcing his traits to stay the exact same while Bucky virtually slapped him. He was pissed at Steve and Sam for the fight they had and was about to be a pain in the ass just because of it. Surely, Steve dis-inviting Sam had something to do with it.

A clueless Peggy jumped on the occasion, promising not to snoop around too much. Steve agreed at that and joined her, coming close to Sam by doing so.

Sam wondered if Steve felt the same tension as him or if he didn’t care. They had not exchange a single word since the fight and having to drink together offered no comfort and no escape.

If any of the others had something to say, they kept it quiet.

Peggy Carter was living to her legend. That much was made abundantly clear an hour later.

Sam was glad he wasn’t looking for a fault in her because he wouldn’t find any. He wasn’t mad either, there was no reason to be. He tried to be his more polite self and not act too suspicious. Steve and him didn’t interact at all and if they sat polar opposite, well, it was just random.

“ _Are you okay Samuel? You and Steve seems quite tense,_ ” she noticed.

“ _Of course we are! Okay, I mean_ ”

Steve has been too quick to answer, he knew it. Facing the now inquisitive look of Peggy, he took two more shade of red of his face.

Sam regretted that they were at his place but he did had the best drinks and Bucky complained about never tasting one of his cocktails so here they were. At least at a bar, other people could distract you from a painful silence.

Bucky was playing with the metal chrome straw Sam recently purchased. Taking glances alternately at his two best friends, he gave up any attempts at subtlety.

Sam had nothing to say, at least, now that she picked on the stale state of their relationship, she would not expect him to be at their wedding either. The problem was that she visibly did not know about the fight and the outcome.

She let the topic go, finishing her drink before she had to head back to the portal. She did gave a hug to Sam who answered with one arm. He hoped that it could not be considered as inappropriate.

Seeing Steve with her had been sort of a revelation. It was real. No matter how he felt about the whole thing, he should have found a way to convey his feelings better.

It did hurt to see the affection between them, the kiss he gave her when they left, right in front of Sam. He doubted there was any malice behind it but it did stung. A day will come where Steve Rogers may be definitely gone and it started to feel heavy in Sam’s chest.

* * *

He didn’t know how to reconcile all his feelings about the man, some of them were inappropriate and needed to be kept hidden.

With the wedding approaching, it was the hot topic of the moment among the Avengers. Sam absence wasn’t unnoticed but with his role as Captain America, it was easy to automatically come with an excuse.

Two hours before Steve’s bachelor party, Sam had the surprise to see James Barnes at his door.

“ _James_ ” he said without joy, wondering why the man was there.

“ _Samuel, get dressed_ ”

“ _You’ve got to be..._ ”

Bucky cut him completely, a vibranium hand on his chest and a cold anger Bucky worked to keep to himself.

“ _I do not care. You will put on clothes to charm the pants off someone and you will come have fun. You have half an hour to get ready, starting now_ ”

Sam laughed, Bucky couldn’t be serious. First of all, who did he thought he was to try to boss him around like that?

“ _Did Steve put you to this?_ ”

“ _If I have to drag you there with your sweatpants and tank top, I will_ ” Bucky warned. He seemed so serious about it, it almost sounded like a threat.

It wasn’t the greatest idea for obvious reasons and he had serious doubts about Steve being happy to see him there. It should be an event for his close friends, people who made him happy, Sam was not on this list anymore.

He bit his lips, eyes unfocused for a moment. Should he be the bigger man? Maybe it would be the occasion to bury the hatchet.

“ _I know you are thinking about it Wilson, go! Come on!_ ”

Hyped (just a little) by his friend, he sighted and let Bucky inside while he walked to his bathroom. The ex Soldier helped himself with a glass of white Martini while Sam got ready. A shower and some coconut oil later, he went to his bedroom with a towel around his hips.

“ _Nice view but could you accelerate? I don’t want to be late,_ ” Bucky said loudly from the bar.

“ _You can always go without me Barnes_ ”

“ _No can do, Bird boy_ ”

So he finished to get ready with the sound of Bucky complaining next to him. He actually made Sam change when he saw him the first time.

The audacity.

Kaki slim pants and white shirt was a good combo and finally, at the end of the thirty minutes, they were outside the apartment.

“ _He won’t like that_ ”

“ _Yes, he will_ ”

Sam said nothing after that, letting Bucky lead the way.

* * *

He was surprised when he found himself enjoy the night out. Steve wasn’t ignoring him per say and while they were aware of the wall between them, the other presences helped smooth the angles enough.

Thor was generous on Hearth-made Asgardian liquor, which would be Sam downfall if he weren’t careful. T’Challa was, apparently, a lightweight when it came to it. His eyes were all shiny and he challenged Bucky to a parkour race across New York.

Bucky accepted.

Bucky lost.

Steve had a nice flower crown and had to hit the dance floor of an animated bar in heels provided by Scott.

“ _Who knew walking in heels would be Steve Rogers’s weakness?_ ” He laughed when Steve wobbled on his legs like a baby dear.

“ _Oh yeah? You could do better?_ ” Steve retorted. “ _They weren’t like that before, I swear_ ”

Scott shrugged and Sam let out a “oops” just to point the challenge. Scott did put the heels and walked so naturally in them he got some enthusiastic whistles from strangers. Sam danced with him, joined by Thor and Bucky while T’Challa and Steve went in a deep conversation.

” _Told ya,_ ” Bucky said to Sam, shoving his shoulder playfully.

” _Shut up man_ ” Sam grinned, passed an arm around Bucky’s shoulder.

Soon, all of them formed a circle, even Steve and the King, jumping around at the sound of a song only Sam and Scott knew.

When they separated, it felt simple, natural, for Sam to take a step toward Steve. He was unable to say anything he was thinking of right now and stood in front of the blond with a pained smile.

” _Steve..._ ”

Steve grabbed him and hugged him tight, which Sam immediately answered.

” _Sam, I..._ ”

” _Hannnmmmmw FINALLY_ ” Bucky cheered, bringing the others to join in a big muscular pile in the middle of the other customers.

It was just a temporary truce, he told himself. No matter how much fun they were having tonight, their disagreement was on a fundamental level on this issue. Soon, Steve Rogers will have a wife and build the life he, maybe, would have had without the Valkyrie’s crash.

However, in that life, he wouldn't have met Natasha, Scott, T’Challa, Thor...and him. He knew Steve said he would come back but what if they decide to have children? What if something happen and they never know?

Nah, Sam was certain of it, he was witnessing his last couple of times being with Steve like this and it was hard. Hard to imagine a world without him around, even if he avoided Steve for a long time himself. There was a difference before choosing to avoid someone and not having that person around at all. Suddenly, everything seemed like a waste of time. He should have known better, be better for Steve. Even if he disagreed with the marriage, they should just have talked. They should have...

For the rest of the night, he almost felt out of himself. As if he was looking at everything while not really being there. When he talked, laughed, danced, it felt fake, like a marionette he was handling to make sure everything looked okay.

T’Challa left first, after they hit that Mexican place Steve loved. No more Charpo Verde in the forties after all.

Soon after, Thor disappeared too. Nobody was surprised since he had found himself in a complicated situation when he came back from space. Apparently, there was a weird poly relationship involving Carol, Val, Jane and him. They did not called it like that, of course, but Sam heard enough to know that something was up between the four of them. Rumours had it that two of them were soulmates but he did not know whom.

After another club, coming close to four in the morning, Scott said his goodbye, heels in hand. He was leaving Steve, Sam and Bucky to make their way back to the compound slowly. Sam felt more like himself and chatted nicely with them, not even feeling nervous.

“ _Thanks guys, for the night. It was honestly so fun_ ” Steve started. He was happy, smiling and it wasn’t even the Asgardian liquor, it’s effects long gone since they ate. “ _We really should go out more often_ ”

“ _I agree. Next time I’ll beat mister Highness. Did you see how he almost threw me in that dumpster?_ ” Bucky complained, giving Sam the mean to direct the conversation to something less heavy.

It was easy to tease the super soldier but it was even better to hype him up a bit.

“ _Noises are his weaknesses. He can’t help but try to focus on everything at once so use that at your advantage_ ”

“ _Damn Birdie, you want me to play dirty like that? I’m taking note_ ”

A few minutes later, when they entered the protected domain, Bucky asked to get out there because he had something to do. The weird thing, in Sam’s opinion, is that it did not seems like he was lying.

Steve simply put the car to a stop, letting his best friend go before resuming a slow pace toward the parking.

The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable. Sam was too tired to freak out about being alone with Steve anyway.

That said, when they finally got out of the car, Steve tried some small talk “ _The night was good, right?_ ”

“ _Yeah, I really liked the second bar. Thor’s mead thought, I’m staying the hell away from it_ ” he chuckled.

Steve nodded, letting the door close on them while the elevator led them to Sam’s floor. To his surprise, Steve followed him. He opened his door and let Steve close it behind them. Was it weird? It was for Sam. They both took their shoes off, Sam put his light vest on the hanger. He went to prepare a small cup of coffee for the two of them without asking, Steve not far behind him.

“ _It seems crazy to be fighting with you_ ”

Sam turned slightly to him, eyebrow raised.

“ _Friends can fight sometimes too, Steve_ ”

” _I know but...about who I’m choosing to marry?_ ”

Sam fully faced him this time ” _This isn't about that Steve. Peggy seems to be just as awesome as everyone says and you make each other happy so, go for it, you don’t need my blessing or something like that_ ”

Steve took the time to let Sam’s words sink in.

” _So what is this about?_ ”

Bringing the coffee to the living room, Sam hesitated between the large dining table and the smaller one in front of the couch. Steve decided for him by sitting himself on the couch, hands in lap. Sam followed, pushing one of the cups toward the blond.

” _I thought a lot about it lately and the thing is, I played myself_ ”

” _What do you mean?_ ”

” _I thought I knew what you wanted. I thought I knew you better than what was true. Your decision seemed so at odds with the Steve I thought I knew that I couldn’t face it_ ”

” _Like thinking I was a Kree..._ ” Steve mumbled,” _Come on Sam, you know me! Very well at that. Better than...almost everyone, if not everyone_ ”

He drank half of the cup in one go, unable to accept these words ” _It’s okay Steve. I think I kind of get it now anyway_ ”

The tone Sam used was making Steve even more nervous. It sounded a lot like a breakup or a goodbye conversation. He didn't want to lose Sam but he wasn't sure he understood the other man’s reasons.

” _Truly, I’m not sure we are on the same page here, Sam_ ”

” _I just thought you had moved on, that’s all. Move on from someone who had a good life in this reality, moved on from an era even worse for people like me. God Steve. You got Peggy and your young Bucky back, but…What does that mean for Bucky and I, that you choose them over us?_ ”

” _I didn’t...Sam! What the hell? I did not choose anyone over anyone. I shouldn't have been here in the first place! And why is everyone insisting on dictating what happiness has to be for me?_ ” Steve was distressed and clearly emotional over this topic. Sam couldn't blame him, he couldn't begin to imagine what it was like for Steve to wake up in the future and eventually having a way to come back from where he was from.

” _I’m sorry Steve_ ”

” _I am not coming back to bask in racism, misogyny and homophobia Sam! I can change thing there, make them better. Instead of fighting in the war, I can try to help politically, I don’t know_ ”

” _But it wouldn’t change anything here_ ”

They looked into each other eyes, unable to say if they had made any progress at all.

” _So that’s it? You think I’m living a fake life?_ ”

” _No, I think it’s real. It’s just not...ours. But well, what’s done is done anyway_ ”

“ _Why are you acting like I betrayed you?_ ” Steve asked.

It felt like a knife entering his torso. They would just hurt each other again and again until their friendship turned to shred if he wasn’t more careful.

“ _I guess I just thought my future would be different. That you would be here, man_ ”

Steve softened immediately, passing a tired hand on his forehead and finishing his lukewarm coffee.

“ _I come back sometimes_ ”

Sam did not know how to say that it wasn’t enough. He felt selfish for even thinking it in the first place. Steve observed him thinking.

“ _I am happy for you, it’s true, but at the same time, I can’t act as if I was all the way happy for you, you know what I mean? Maybe it’s stupid_ ”

“ _It’s not_ ” Steve reassured him “ _At least we are talking about it. I miss you Sam, this is not changing. Yes, part of it is my own fault but you...I fucked up with you. It’s hard to try to see things from your perspective without sounding presumptuous,_ ” he said, clearly blushing now.

It peaked Sam’s interest.

“ _Try_ ”

Steve looks embarrassed, looking at his lap for a moment “ _You miss me just as much as I miss you but you think I am not making the right decision. Or at least, not the right way. You want me here_ ”

Sam shrugged “ _That’s accurate I think_ ”

Steve smiled, took a deep breath “ _I know I was mad before and said...you know, that you couldn’t come to the wedding and all but, Gosh, I was such a dickhead for that move. So if you want, no pressure, but if you want you can...you should come_ ”

He seemed so shy suddenly, Sam couldn’t hide his surprise and the smile following.

” _Geez, four days before the date? I’ll check my schedule but I can’t promise anything_ ” he answered just to be a little shit.

” _Oh, Captain America’s busy eh?_ ”

” _You bet your ass he is_ ”

They joked but also knew that the uncertainty between them wouldn’t be resolved tonight.

* * *

Steve’s smile burnt into Sam’s mind through his sleep and the next day too. He felt like a fraud despite having been as truthful as he thought he could be.

He had two occasions to get an excuse and not be there for the wedding. One was a mission in space he could have taken and the second was a family barbecue at a cousin’s house. Unfortunately for the later, he made the error of telling Bucky about it. He saw the man get his phone out and call someone and realized way too late that it was his sister.

“ _Hi, Sam is trying to avoid Steve’s wedding so if he goes to the barbecue, hit him. Yeah, bye Sarah_ ”

Quite scandalized, Sam was not happy about that call and they almost start to fight but Wanda separated them and left, but not before telling Sam that he had it coming with a bemused smile. It did not end there however, Bucky came to his place that night, not saying a word until he took (stole) a beer from the fridge.

“ _Sam, are you in love with Steve?_ ”

“ _No. Why?_ ” Sam answered with ease. A careful sentence, tone and face practiced for years. Usually, it served when someone was getting too noisy about his sexuality in his teen and early twenties.

Bucky did not moved his eyes and there was no way to check if he believed him or not.

“ _You act like an ex who thought they would be the one getting married_ ”

Sam gave Bucky a worried look “ _Are you okay Bucky? Did you get hit in the head earlier?_ ”

It was so easy, the casual mock and deflect, the technic was perfect for people who had no proof and helped appear less defensive.

“ _So, can I get some apologies for, you know, not only calling my sister, but talking about my business too?_ ”

Bucky said sorry with the blankest face and fake tone ever. It made Sam give an exaggerated laugh and asked if he thought he had been convincing to which Bucky answered, “ _Same to you, pal_ ”

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. It wasn’t even a lie. He was not in love with Steve Rogers. Love had nothing to do with the situation.

It was no use trying to convince Bucky about it thought.

* * *

On the wedding day, Sam was woken up by Bucky who took it upon himself to make sure Sam would come. They nearly had another fight and Sam stormed into his bathroom to get ready after Bucky threaten him to break the door to check if he was doing what he was supposed to do.

“ _Don’t look at me like that Sam_ ” the dandy looking man said when Sam opened the door, finally ready “ _We both know I actually can’t force you to do jack shit so stop pretending you don’t want to be there_ ”

“ _There’s something called emotional manipulation, you should read about it_ ”

“ _Me asking you to support your best friend isn’t emotional manipulation_ ”

“ _Steve ain’t my best friend. He stopped being it when he gave me this cursed shield and for all of five minutes you almost lived up to the position but now I consider Scott. He would never treat me like this_ ”

Bucky fixed Sam’s tie and smiled “ _You think of me as your best friend too? Hanw, Sammy_ ”

“ _That’s not what I said_ ”

“ _That’s what you meant_ ”

Well, Bucky got him there, they had became quite close in the last weeks, something so natural they both has been surprised by it.

“ _You know, I actually am glad you are coming. I know this isn’t easy for you_ ”

Since he moved away to get his shoes on, Sam had to turn to face Bucky, “ _You know I only have friendly feelings for Steve, right?_ ”

Once again, Bucky took his fakest face to answer “ _Of course_ ” . He did not have time to have another fight with the long haired man so he let it go but not without a little jab.

“ _That bun must be too tight on your head Barnes. Well, let’s go, shall we?_ ”

* * *

They had to meet into one of the compound hangars to use Scott’s portal.

Finally, after many negotiations, Steve accepted that Peggy and him married in 1946. Why this year in particular? Sam did not know. Last time he heard about the wedding, they were supposed to do it out of time in a secret place where people from the past and the present could mix without creating weird paradoxes.

Sam knew that Bruce, Scott, Hope and Strange worked hard to make sure the ceremony and the party would work without risk. Some shields agents were keeping the gates on both side and only a handful of people could actually get the portal to work. All Sam needed to do was walk through it to find himself on a decorated alley facing a large farm.

They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by crops. Bucky, said with a large smile “ _Welcome to the Barnes farm_ ”

Okay, he wasn’t expecting this, at all.

He spotted Clint and Laura next to the house door. There was a painted stone way leading to the barn with a little gathering waiting to be let inside.

A small woman in her late thirties and long dark hair in a shiny ponytail approached them “ _Hey Jamie, who’s your handsome friend here?_ ”

Sam smiled “ _Sam Wilson, Madam_ ” he took her hand slowly and brought his lips just above it. She giggled and placed a loose wavy strand of hair behind her ear, allowing Sam to see part of a soulmark.

“ _I am Rebecca Barnes. Didn’t know my brother would bring someone as charming_ ”

“ _Yeah, yeah, okay Becca, stop that. Where’s lil me?_ ” Bucky cut. He was embarrassed by his “sister’s” behavior.

Sam was witnessing Bucky under a new light and he knew he would tease him later about it.

“ _Inside, making sure everything is perfect. I say we have twenty minutes before opening the barn. I am so excited, Peggy is stunning_ ”

Bucky proposed to show Sam around. The place was beautiful and looked like a family was actually living here. Sam knew that in their reality, Rebecca sold the farm right after the war because their mom died. In this reality, Steve rescued the younger James and it seemed that their mother was doing wonderful.

“ _You okay being here? Facing all that? The past I mean_ ” He asked Bucky right before they went upstairs where Steve was probably panicking and getting ready.

Bucky gave him a sad smile “ _It’s hard to see another life for myself but I’m okay. I don’t think I will come back thought_ ”

Sam nodded. The two Bucky must have freaked out when they saw each other for the first time. It’s only then that Sam wondered if the younger Steve was still trapped in the ice or somewhere else.

They went on the first floor, passing a pressed Howard Stark on his way out. He gave them a nod and quickly disappeared by the same way they used.

In what must be Bucky’s room, Steve was looking at himself in a mirror. The sight of the groom in a navy blue three-piece suit stopped Sam for a moment. He forced himself to peel his eyes off his beautiful friend. Next to him, a short haired man, eyes a brighter blue than his Bucky, turned to them with curiosity. He looked at Sam from head to toe so he did the same, taking in the black suit and rosy cheeks. His Bucky never had that warmth in his skin tone since he knew him. They may have the same face, they looked like two different persons.

“ _Sam?_ ” Steve beamed at him.

“ _Sam? So this is the Sam Wilson everybody keeps telling me about_ ”

_“Kind of handsome I see_ ” he said with a grin that made Sam’s eyebrows ascend to heaven.

“ _Buck!_ ” Steve exclaimed.

“ _James!_ ” Bucky’s said at the same time.

It only serves to make James laugh and saying that he was going to check on Becca.

“ _Sorry, I was a bit of a terrible flirt before_ ”

Sam tried to pursed his lips and turned his head away to at least pretend he wasn’t smiling from ear to ear. This was getting better and better.

“ _So, you came finally_ ”

With false nonchalance, Sam turned to Steve and explained that Bucky basically dragged him there and how bullied he was by the metal armed man. He actually stopped himself in the middle of his rant, feeling ridiculous and self conscious suddenly. He was at Steve’s wedding and he only needed to be in a nice spirit for a few hours. He could do better than that.

“ _Sorry, what I want to say is that I wish you the best Steve. No matter where or when your destiny leads you. You look..._ ” Steve seemed expectant if his next word “ _dashing. You look amazing. Seriously_ ”

“ _Thank you. And thank you for being here. You don’t know how much this mean to me to have Bucky and you by my side today_ ”

The next silence was only broke by Bucky announcing that this would start soon so they needed to hurry up before walking out of the room and leaving them alone. Sam was still eating Steve with his eyes. He looked radiant.

“ _You ready?_ ” He asked.

Steve nodded and started to make his way out but when he passed Sam, he frowned slightly and wrapped him in his large arms. Sam felt himself melt to the other man’s body.

“ _I love you Steve_ ” he said, kissing his cheek.

“ _I love you too. God, Sam..._ ” he felt lips that were more on his neck that his cheeks but he guessed it was due to the cascade of emotions Steve was feeling.

They separated after that, not without one last look at each other. Steve went out of the house and Sam was about to follow when he noticed his untied shoe. Warning Steve to go quickly, he wasn’t actually that far behind and saw the last guests make their way in the barn. The last one was Scott who stopped when he saw Sam coming.

“ _Just in time_ ” he said with a large smile.

“ _Yeah, let’s go_ ”

“ _You okay Sam?_ ”

He thought the question was kind of ridiculous. He waved off his friend’s concern quickly, only to have him point to his face “ _You’re sweating like crazy_ ”

Sam touched the wetness he hadn’t noticed until now. He couldn’t go to the wedding like a dripping mess.

“ _I’m going to freshen up real quick_ ”

Without a second to waste, Sam walked back into the house, looking for a bathroom to use. Did he dream the one upstairs? He swore he saw one earlier. He found the small room just when he started feeling dizzy. Closing behind him, he loosen the tie around his neck in an attempt to ease his breath.

All in shades of white and blue, the bathroom seemed to get smaller and smaller around him. The cold water on his face brought a satisfactory groan out of him but the relief was short lived. A buzz seemed to run through this whole body to concentrate on his back. It started with his head, his neck that he try to massage, then his whole back and finally his ass.

He didn’t know why he thought he was about to pass out but he let his body sit on the white floor tile, against the old bathtub. It did occur to him, while his body decided to shut down, that he was probably about to miss a part of the wedding. Steve was the last thing he thought about before closing his eyes.


	2. Confrontation

A quick series of knocks against the door finally woke up Sam.

“ _Hey! Is there someone in here?_ ” A feminine voice asked from outside.

Then the knocks changed into a loud banging “ _Hey! What are you doing?!_ ”

Sam was laying on the floor, his head pounding slightly. He sat, checked that he was, apparently okay.

“ _Sorry, coming out_ ” he said loudly.

“ _Who’s that?_ ” He heard the woman ask.

He got up, quickly opening the door to see Rebecca and James Barnes, apparently more than surprised to found him here as well.

“ _What...What are you still doing here?_ ” James’s brow jumped in confusion.

“ _Sam, right? Some of your friends were looking for you earlier, were you hiding?_ ”

Sam frowned “ _No, I...I just went in to put some water on my face and I guess I passed out. The emotion, surely_ ” He tried to play it off with a joke but they weren’t really buying it.

“ _Right, you may want to hurry there, pal. Almost everyone is already gone_ ”

This was making no sense but Sam knew how to give a good poker face. He nodded and silently made his way past them. Outside of the house, nothing seemed out of the ordinary but when he went in the barn, he saw three people cleaning around, most of the decoration gone in large bags.

What the hell?!

He turned toward the alley he came by and ran to join the portal. A few agents he did not recognize were around it, apparently doing some kind of reports.

“ _Sir?_ ” One of them called when he spotted him approaching “ _we didn’t know you were still here_ ”. They had the same bracelet as him, a proof of where they were coming from.

“ _Can I still use this?_ ” He asked with a chin movement toward the portal.

They nodded, letting him make his way through the control panel. He felt nervous as he passed it and reappeared years and miles away.

The hangar was busy, allowing Sam to make his way out stealthily despite his confusion. His phone vibrated to let him notice some messages from Bucky, Sharon and Scott. All were asking where he was but only the last two seemed worried. Bucky just sounded pissed. He also noticed that two and an half four had passed. In what world?

The closest he was to his place, the more oppressed he was by his clothes. Something wasn't making sense here, even if he missed the ceremony, he should have been there for the party afterward. Besides, if his friends phone worked, it must be because they were in the present. Therefore, two options could be plausible, they changed their plan with the party place at the last minute or something bad happened.

When he opened his door, the very first thing he saw was hair. Hair all up in his space before seeing the person attached to them.

Bucky.

“ _ **Where the hell were you, Sam?**_ ”

“In the house," He tried and failed to stay calm, " _Where the hell were YOU? And everybody else too?!_ ”

Bucky licked his lips aggressively. Sam knew most of his body language and he was ready to let him have it.

“ _You know what I think? You pretended to be there for the wedding and ran away the second it started_ ”

Sam was about to point how ridiculous Bucky sounded right now but had to check himself. This wasn’t what happened but it was, however, what it looked like. He missed the wedding and reappeared after everyone went back. **_Fuck_**.

“ _Believe what you want then_ ”

“ _Don’t give me that, Wilson_ ”

“ _Fine, what do you want me to say?_ ” Sam asked in annoyance

At least, Bucky seemed ready to listen ” _The truth_ ”

” _I went into a bathroom right before the ceremony, I wasn't feeling at my top and by the time I got out, the wedding was apparently done and they were cleaning_ ”

Bucky blinked and frowned ” _Are you serious right now? Its been hours_ ”

Sam continued to be just as confused ” _I told you, I wasn't feeling very fresh, dude_ ”

Bucky rolled his eyes ” _Last night you ate Peter’s poor attempt at lasagna, didn't you? I told you to stay away from this_ ”

The lasagna...yes he did eat a good chunk of it. It tasted normal to him. Did Peter put something weird in there? Nah, that was ridiculous.

” _Okay but how come the wedding wrapped up so quick?_ ” he finally asked, starting to move toward the kitchen for a glass of water for his dehydrated throat.

Bucky went silent for a moment, eyes dark when Sam gave him a short glance ” _They didn't do it_ ” he announced.

Sam’s glass slipped from his hand before he had the chance to put any water in it. Luckily, it was plastic but it still seems to make a shattering noise as it touched and rebounded on the floor.

“ _You really didn’t know_ ” Bucky realized.

“ _What do you mean they didn’t do it? We saw Steve minutes before the whole thing. Is someone hurt? Was there an attack?_ ”

Bucky studied his friend’s face, took in the same lost face so many guests had in that moment.

“ _No one is hurt...at least not physically. You should go talk to Steve. Maybe clear your disappearance act to him and...ask him. It will be better if he is the one to tell you_ ”

Sam was so perplexed and at loss for words that his brain was looking for every explanations possible. He seriously doubted Steve or Peggy would call the wedding off. Not during the ceremony anyway. So did someone appeared out of nowhere? Would it be possible that Peggy had someone else who decide to risk it all during the ceremony? Was it young Steve?

The curiosity was killing him. He wanted to know if Steve was okay. What was going to happen now? Was it just temporary? He asked Bucky how to find Steve and his friend told him that he was currently with Peggy but would probably come around later.

Sam nodded, finally taking the glass back from where it rolled.

“ _Sam, I need to be sure you didn’t intentionally avoided the wedding_ ” Bucky said eventually. He trusted Sam, yes, but considering his history with Steve since he started dating Peggy, he had the feeling something was off. Sam could be petty and he hated the deceived look on Steve’s face when he very obviously looked for one of his best friend in the assistance.

Sam gave him his words and it was to be enough. At least, for now.

Eventually, Bucky left and Sam finally got the opportunity to change. Another quick self-examination to check that he had no wound whatsoever. What happened in that bathroom made no sense but, so far, it could be an isolated instance. If anything unusual like this happened again, he would walk straight to the medical bay for a check-up.

* * *

The next day, Sam needed to leave for a week long mission. He had to infiltrate an elite school to find who was replacing some of the students and staff by evil clones. It wasn't an environment he knew, the harder part wasn’t to find the responsible but not to roll his eyes every time he witnessed something completely stupid. Acting as a janitor, he was mostly transparent and no one would ask why he was where he was when he was.

He focused on his mission, only using the burner phone the team provided him to be in contact with Agent Humes for support. Once he found a way to identify with certainty the clones thanks to their eyes, it only took three more replacements to narrow his suspect list to a few names.

Finally, he found out that one of the professor and a student were in fact brother and sister. They came across some alien technology, allowing them to clone humans. How exactly did they manage to put their hand on it and make it work? In was a mystery. They did manage however to play a bit too much with it, causing two death “accidentally”. Of course, they tried to send some of the clones attack him when he wanted to arrest them. They were no fighter, that was for sure. He wrapped the mission and tried to not think too much of the clones. Their life spawn was way shorter than a regular human so even the one they caught alive would only have one year at best.

It made him want to be home. To be near his friends and feel in control of his life.

The jet couldn’t land soon enough and the second he could, he ran to do his debrief, passing past Bucky and Wanda in a hurry and a quick hello. Once duty was done, he rushed at his place and in his bathroom where he could let his body relax under the rain shower. Time started to loose meaning when someone knocked on his door and the AI announced Wanda. Startled, he did his best not to make her wait for too long and opened with a smile and a hug, his t shirt half put above his head.

Lately, Wanda was often seen travelling to Eastern Europe, helping on different programs linked to population care. She was more tired than usually but she confirmed being happy and motivated which was good. On a rare instance, she even brushed Vision’s topic by herself.

“ _I got some news from Princess Shuri. She said that if I wanted to, they could attempt to recreate Vision. Since he wasn’t really human and Tony is gone, she doesn’t know if someone else should have a say in it besides me_ ”

Sam closed his eyes for a moment “ _Having life or death power over someone is kind of heavy_ ”

“ _And I know why she asks but regardless of my own relationship with him, if there’s a way to bring him back..._ ”

“ _Is he being brought back or...born again?_ ” Sam tried to clarify. And he needed to be sure Wanda knew the difference.

“ _She can create the body but the soul is what concerning us. The mind stone gave him one and, I guess, since I have a connection to it, maybe I could reach out for it wherever it is?_ ”

Clearly, Wanda was putting a lot of thought in it. Sam wanted to help her see clearer but this was as foreign of a situation to him than it was to her. She left half an hour later, giving Sam much to think about too. He wondered what she would decide. Who had the right to decide if Vision should be back or not? Maybe he was asking himself that question because Vision wasn’t exactly human. Was it fair?

The next day, Sam woke up early and went for a run at the same time the sun started to rise. People had all sort of planning in the compound so there was a few agents already out there doing their things.

Sam was on his second lap when someone got past him at full speed.

The memory of meeting Steve for the first time was so vivacious, he completely stopped to run, looking at the figure disappear when he turned among the trees.

His whole brain thought about one thing only “ _What am I supposed to say to him?_ ” It was not the first time he wondered that since the wedding but he always had something else to think about so he never came with an actual answer and now Steve was here and he should talk to him. He really should, instead of just...walking away and doing the exact same shit he did before. Funny how his mind just provided bad logic as soon as Steve was involved.

When he spotted the man run in his direction a few minutes later, he simply waved and hoped he stopped, which he did and Sam will never get used to see someone run so fast just stop like that without breathing hard and much of a momentum.

“ _Hey man, how 're you doing, man?_ ” He started before punching himself in the face virtually. “ _I mean, can we talk?_ ”

Steve looked at the watch at his whist, watch he did not have before the wedding, and nodded. “ _I’m okay. You?_ ”

Sam didn’t expect a warm conversation exactly but it sure wasn’t starting great. “ _I’m good. I came back from my mission yesterday , and I thought I would catch up with you, if that’s okay_ ”

Steve narrowed his eyes, his hands were now on his hips “ _Catch up with me, uh?_ ”

He definitely wasn’t going to make this easier for him so Sam tried a more direct approach “ _About the wedding...I...what happened?_ ”

Steve’s face went blank “ _You would know if you have been there, Samuel_ ”

“ _See, I had a problem on my way to the ceremony_ ”

“ _Okay, bye Sam_ ” Steve interrupted, rolling his eyes and starting to run away.

“ ** _Steve, wait_** ”

Sam had to pursue him at almost full capacity to catch up and put his hand on the large shoulder. Because of the velocity, when Steve stopped dead in his tracks, Sam collided with him.

“ _Aw shit, you okay?_ ” He asked while he checked himself.

“ _Stop this_ ”

“ _Stop what?_ ”

“ _Pretending to care. What? Are you here to rub it in my face? Are you happy? You must be happy_ ”

Time to deescalate quickly, Sam thought “ _No. I genuinely don’t know what happened. Bucky told me to ask you so here I am, asking you_ ”

Steve seemed almost menacing when he answered, despite not having moved one bit “ _Well, Sam, since you want to know so much, the second I put a foot in the barn, I started to feel itchy all over my body. By the time Peggy arrived, my left arm felt on fire and we barely manage to make it to the vows before the pain started to be unbearable. Now, I have a pretty high pain tolerance so imagine how everyone looked at me when I had to take my vest off and the shirt too because the universe decided to fuck me in the urethra with sandpaper_ ”

Sam hated the cold tone Steve was using. It was accusatory even if it wasn’t directed at him per say but damn, what the hell was that?

“ _What happened?_ ”

There was fury in Steve’s eyes when he actually took off his long sleeves sport shirt in the middle of the trees. Sam felt like he got tossed into the air and was now falling to the ground really fast.

There was a mark.

Black, no, dark blue and it looked like a circle with several smaller circles inside. They were blue too but...the shades seemed to change as time passed. This mark, more beautiful than a tattoo could ever be, was the size of a dime.

Oh.

Oh no...

“ _Tell me this is Peggy’s_ ”

“ _We waited. But these things...they arrive to both soulmate almost at the same time. Always. She said she knows it’s not hers and I tried to convinced her that it meant nothing but..._ ” he made a dismissive noise “ _I wasn’t convincing enough_ ”

Sam was stunned. Shook from his hair follicle to his little toe.

“ _What the fuck_ ”

“ _And while I was humiliated in front of everyone for something I surely did not asked for, I do remember clearly that you weren’t even there_ ”

Sam was not ready for the train charging to hit him.

“ _Mind you, I saw you right before the ceremony and no trace of Samuel Wilson. The same Samuel who had a problem with my wedding from the start. I must admit, you got me. Actually coming to the wedding only to disappear as it starts_ ”

“ _Hold up man. I know it sounds bad but..._ ”

Steve almost growled, “ _Do not take me for a fool. I know your stance on the wedding with Peggy but I believed you, I…Such an idiot_ ”

“ _That doesn’t mean that I wanted you to have a freaking soulmark the day of your wedding?! Are you listening to yourself?_ ”

The last thing Sam wanted was to get into yet another argument with Steve. He understood his friend was hurt, beyond that even, for that to happen on that day, in front of everyone? 

“ _Okay so where were you?_ ”

“ _In the bathroom_ ”

Steve blinked “ _What?_ ”

“ _I wasn’t feeling good and I just wanted to put some water on my face but I kind of passed out for no reason and when I woke up, you all were gone_ ”

Steve’s eyes were drilling holes into Sam’s skull. He did not believe him one bit.

“ _Wow Sam. **Wow**_ ”

“ _This is the truth man_ ”

“ _Nah, that’s bullshit. I’m done. I can’t do this_ ”

Steve ran fast and Sam just stayed there, unable to focus.

What just happened?

A mark?

Steve Rogers had a soulmate.

His soulmate wasn’t Peggy Carter.

What was going on?

He couldn’t begin to imagine how Steve must have felt that day. What even goes in your mind when a mark appeared on your body in front of everyone else during your wedding?

He felt stupid, so stupid. Worse, he felt like he failed Steve.

The air was chill in the morning but his body was burning hot with embarrassment. He needed to find a way to make things better but first, maybe he had to give Steve some space. With that soulmark, what does that meant for Peggy and Steve? What does that meant for that reality he created when he stayed in the past the first time?

In all his thinking, Sam did not wonder who could be Steve’s soulmate once.

* * *

Deciding to let Steve breathe seemed like a great idea until Sam started to be aware of rumors about him.

There was only two of them but they were equally upsetting. The more popular one in the compound was that, for some reasons, Sam got stuck in the bathroom with a case of runny shit so bad he wasn’t able to get out of there until after the ceremony.

The second theory implied that Sam was apparently in love with Steve and was the one responsible for the wedding’s cancellation somehow.

None of them depicted Sam in a favorable light by the way people talked about them. There was something a bit disturbing in coming in one of the data treatment room and have three agents discuss how Sam was furious that Steve got a mark with someone else.

You think being Captain America would earn Sam some respect at the very least with people working with him. It did not.

The source of the first gossip, even if the story was slightly different at first, was Bucky.

The fact that Bucky of all people said that Sam had a tummy ache as his excuse for missing the ceremony was all the proof some people need. If the Winter Soldier said something, it must be true.

Now, Sam was used to get some rumors about him. He had some in high school and in the military (which is how he met Riley in the first place). He hadn’t really had many that he heard of as the Falcon but as Captain America? The media invented something every two weeks anyway. The first rumor however, hit different, since it came from Barnes. He planned to address it with Bucky directly but didn’t know if this was really going to be helpful anyway.

There was a short mission then another one and he was out of the compound for almost another week.

He needed to breathe after that and called Scott to see if the man was free.

Scott was one of these people Sam would have never imagined being friends with before all the Avenging stuff. Not because there was something wrong with his personality but because their path weren’t really similar. Now, having the guy as one of his close friends was truly something he appreciated.

When Scott invited him for diner with Cassie, Hope, Jimmy and Ava, he quickly agreed to go, even if it meant hours of car drive.

On his way to the parking, he met Bucky, in full tactical gear. They hadn’t really saw each other since they talked about Steve which was almost two weeks earlier. Now that he thought about it, they haven't addressed the rumors either. Should he be mad at him? It didn't look like something Barnes would say to hurt him. For a hot second, Sam thought that the other man was going to ignore him altogether but he did stop when he arrived to his level.

“ _Wilson_ ”

“ _Barnes_ ”

“ _Heard you seeing some friends tonight_ ”

Sam did not answer immediately, he wasn’t sure if Bucky meant it at an attack or not or how he knew about that in the first place, he simply nodded with a small smile. Bucky started to move to go on his way before changing his mind and turning to face Sam yet again.

” _We should do it too_ ”

Sam frowned ” _You mean dinner with friends and all that?_ ”

Bucky gave him a sharp nod.

” _Okay...if you are free later this week, let me know then_ ” Sam proposed. It reminds him of the start of their friendship when they tried to learn each other. They were past that now, thank God, but it still could be awkward at times.

Sam looked at his friend go after he nodded again, perplexed by the exchange.

* * *

The night at Lang’s house was totally worth the drive, Sam thought, belly full and having to retreat inside the kitchen because Scott and Luis were trying to kill him with their stupid hilarious stories. Seeing Luis, Ava and Jimmy was awesome and he felt sorry for poor Jimmy who knew he was surrounded by people who broke the law before and might very well do it again.

Scott seemed to have a bit of a hard time convincing his daughter not to embrace the superhero life, especially with Hope being a role model for her. A role Hope did not asked for but took seriously nonetheless. In addition, Scott and Hope current work to reform Ava and cement her position as a force of good gave the young woman even more motivation.

You could tell Scott was proud but mostly concerned, having in mind all the losses and sacrifices these line of work put you through. Sam did try to mitigate Cassie’s enthusiasm on Scott plea for help but even with that, she already had her mind set.

This conversation resonated with Sam as he sometimes thought about what it could mean for his family that he put his life on the line as often. He didn’t talk to Gideon anymore after some rough teenage years so all he truly had was his sister and even then, their relationship went south when he gave up everything to help Steve. They argued, and she wasn’t wrong when she told him that if something happened to him, she may never know. On that, he could relate to Scott and his troubles.

He arrived later than planned but felt good knowing he wouldn’t have to wake up early. Damn, he was strangely hopeful for his own future, even if the weight of his own solitude started to be heavy. That was something he tried not to think about, if he should try to find someone or if his life was meant to be a lonely one.

Bucky asked about the dinner the next day and actually proposed Friday night for his own little gathering. Only when Bucky was out of sight Sam remembered that he should have asked who exactly was supposed to be here.

He did felt like a fool when he walked inside Barnes’s living room and found Sharon and Steve there.

_What did Bucky think?!_ Sam wondered when the smiling man all but snatched the bottle of wine from his hand. He said hello to Sharon, kissed her cheek and send a “ _Steve_ ” with a hand wave before going to sit on a chair next to the dinner table.

Steve’s “ _Hi_ ” seemed a bit weak but maybe that was just Sam’s imagination.

Far from making him silent, he used the opportunity to catch up with Sharon. It was cool, there wasn’t any signs of animosity from Steve or Bucky so Sam gladly thought that he wouldn’t have any drama tonight. Too bad, Sharon didn’t get the memo because she did asked about Steve being here more often lately.

“ _So, yeah, I guess I have to find a place to live in this timeline_ ”

Oh the implications...Sam purposely had his head away from Steve, he was in a face journey and had to pretend he was not listening at all to this conversation. Bucky, of course, proposed that he stayed at the compound as if Steve was a dumbass for even thinking otherwise. In that moment, Sam loved nothing more that the Pinot noir in his hand. His lips were sealed around the glass but he knew his eyes and eyebrows were giving away all his thoughts to Sharon who send him curious glances.

When Bucky went for a refill in the kitchen, Sam followed as naturally as he could and questioned “ _Is there a theme to this little non party?_ ” The real question “ _What are you doing, Barnes?”_ was evident.

“ _Yeah, yeah, relax, we are going to have fun_ ” he assured with a lack of appropriate tone that was frightening. It was like he just repeated something someone told him a lot without thinking it was actually true.

Sam went back to the living room, silently sitting next to Sharon.

“ _You okay?_ ” She whispered.

Sam smiled to her, his eyes finding Steve for a second “ _Of course, this is nice to see friends_ ”. The following silence was awkward. Bucky came back with a box he carefully put on the coffee table.

“ _No, Barnes, come on_ ” Sam complained immediately.

“ _Clint and Scott told me this is a great way to have unforgettable moment between friends,_ ” he explained.

“ _What is this?_ ” Steve demanded with genuine curiosity.

“ _A great way to lose your good relationship, that’s what it is_ ” Sam answered, the certainty absolute in his voice.

Sharon beamed, “ _I love Monopoly, yes!_ ”

Sam did try to stop them before it was too late but he failed. It was actually almost impressive how unlucky Steve was at the game. Bucky was doing well for himself until Sam started to own a lot of places he landed on. Sharon was very competitive, which was a side of her Sam never saw until now. She proposed an alliance with Bucky and Sam really wanted to warn him that she was just using him and would eat him alive right after but he accepted anyway. As predicted, she end up with the upper hand and totally obliterated Steve and Bucky in the process. Sam knew it was just a question of time until he ran out of money anyway so he gave up to a glowing Sharon.

“ _I love this game!_ ” She repeated for the tenth time.

“ _This is capitalist propaganda,_ ” Steve countered, visibly pouting.

“ _I think it was fun. Maybe I should do a game night every once in a while?_ ” Bucky looked at Sam when he proposed it. He seemed a bit unsure and Sam wondered why he asked him for his opinion.

“ _Yeah, it was nice. Just no more monopoly man, this is dangerous_ ”

Bucky grew a large smile then, it made Sam smile too to see him happy. They had one last drink before heading home and that’s when Sam sixth sense warned him that he should go right now and not wait for anybody.

Sharon received a flirty text from someone she refused to identify, so of course, the three men interrogate her about it. Not ready to answer, she flipped the question around to Bucky first, who answered that he was slowly trying to date again these past weeks. Steve jumped on the occasion to congratulate him in earnest. Sam did his best to keep the conversation around Bucky and asked several questions. He joked and hyped Bucky to keep them busy long enough for him to finish his drink.

“ _Ah enough already_ ” Bucky cut, a shade pinker “ _I am not the only available celibate here_ ”

Sam smiled until they all turned to him “ _You’re the most interesting thought_ ”

“ _Nah, that ain’t true_ ” the long-haired man said.

If Bucky was a telepath, he would hear the long flow of insults Sam was throwing his way but because he was not, he only could imagine them. He was mostly right anyway.

“ _Well, the day I find someone who wants my black ass, I’ll let you know then_ ” Sam shrugged.

Sharon made a disapproving noise, mumbling something about Sam being a catch.

“ _You got no one in sight?_ ” Steve asked.

The question was simple but they looked at Sam like he was about to reveal the universe’s secret.

He sighted “ _I don’t think I would know how to balance Captain’s duty with building something strong with someone. So, each time I think that someone is cute, it’s stays there. They’re cute, my life can’t manage a relationship right now and that’s all_ ”

Bucky nodded, raising his glass in agreement even if Sam felt a bit bad about lying like that. If someone came into his life, he would totally make it work somehow.

“ _You can’t live the rest of your life alone, Sam_ ” Steve said with too much softness in the voice.

Sam chuckled at the comment. At least, he knew Steve believed in that since he literally left for someone. Well he kind of devoted his life to The Cause and…to Steve too in a sense. Hard to form a solid bond when you try to escape your government and get dusted for five years. Now was different thought he guessed.

“ _Maybe I should…_ ” he stopped himself. _Maybe I should go to the past and save Riley then_ , he almost said. It wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be bitter like that. He couldn’t allow himself to think about the past as something that could be fucked with and fixed as he pleased. “ _Wait a minute, are you staying here like…permanently?_ ”

Bucky groaned and Sharon laughed.

“ _You got this only now?_ ” Steve answered with perplexity.

“ _But what if your mark is with someone from the alternate timeline?_ ”

Steve jaw makes a weird movement and his eyes narrowed “ _Don’t worry, I am not planning another wedding for you to avoid_ ”

“ _Fuck you_ ”

The exchange was quick. So quick it was like the two of them knew what was going on inside each other head before they said it. Sam had his eyes planted on Steve who had his head tilted back just enough to go with his little shit act but Sam needed to set the record straight.

“ _I told you once and I am telling you twice, I did not purposely missed your wedding, Rogers. Do not test me and make me repeat a third time, I do not play like that_ ”

“ _I saw you on our way to the barn Sam, you were fine!_ ”

“ _Then ask Scott! Nah, you know what, I’m done with this stupid topic. I have never lied to you Steve. Not once. And you can’t even trust me enough on this? Says more about you than it says about me_ ”

He got up to put the glass on the diner able, the sound of Sharon and Bucky trying to hold Steve in his back.

“ _Sam wait_ ”

“ _Why?_ ” he turned to face the blond, a metal hand pushing him back while Sharon put herself next to Bucky. Firmly, but without being harsh, he moved Bucky away, hands raised.

“ _I’m sorry_ ”

“ _Are you now? Because you and Bucky seemed pretty happy to spread gossips about me. Yeah, I know about that_ ”

Bucky looks like a frozen bunny.

Steve licked his lips while he thought hard about what to say “ _I fucked up. We were talking about the weeding with Bucky one day and we weren’t careful enough_ ”

“ _Wow_ ”

“ _I thought that there was no way you would miss it unless you wanted to_ ”

Sam shook his head “ _Yeah, you thought that five minutes ago too_ ”

“ _I’m trying, Sam_ ”

“ _Trying what exactly?_ ” Sam’s voice raised itself in frustration.

“ _To keep you with me. Since the fight with Thanos, we are growing apart. It hurts_ ”

“ _We are growing apart because you want to make your life in another timeline. Dude, this isn’t like moving in another country_ ”

Steve came closer under the eyes of the other two friends.

“ _You’re right. It’s hard for me to let go of Peggy. I was going to marry her, I wanted to be with her, maybe I idealized the whole thing…And I have to let go of it now_ ” Steve passed a hand in his hair, closing his eyes “ _I hate this mark so fucking much. I know this is supposed to connect me to the greatest woman of my life but I can’t wrap my mind around it. I thought I already found my soulmate_ ”

Sam sighted, not saying anything for a while. Steve’s eyes were downcast, holding back some tears. If he rejected Steve now, he had the feeling that their friendship would never heal from it. The thing was, even if Steve stayed here, no one could guarantee the mark was with someone from this “now”. They all knew this.

“ _I won’t spend another year avoiding or fighting with you Steve. I can’t to that shit again_ ” Sam warned. Yet, the avoiding part was all on him. Would he be able to support Steve if he met another Peggy-situation?

“ _I don’t think I would ever let you avoid me that long again anyway_ ”

Steve had a shy smile and his eyes seemed to ask a question. Sam bite his bottom lip, face looking away for a moment. Finally, he spread his arms and made an invitation move. Steve’s body collide with his with enough strength to knock the wind out of his lung.

“ _I’m sorry Sam. I’m sorry_ ”

“ _Yeah, me too. I was a dickhead_ ”

He felt good. Better than that, it was like breathing again. It was different from the bachelor party, this time it was a promise to do better and not just put their problem on pause. At least, he hoped so. Having Steve in his arms felt a little too good so he let the man go reluctantly and swore he saw just a bit of deception on his face, quickly replaced by a smile.

“ _Is it a reconciliation or…I can’t really tell with the two of you_ ” Bucky questioned “ _Sam, sorry for not believing you and picking a side. And also for your sweat_ ”

Sam frowned “ _What do you mean? What about my sweat?_ ”

Bucky gaped “ _Uh, nothing, let me just…I’ll be right back_ ”

The man bolted outside of his own place and Sam was about to follow him when Steve caught his arm and shook his head with a smile.

“ _Well, I did not planned on being this entertained tonight. Call me when we can do that again_ ” Sharon said before leaving.

Sam and Steve started to clean up. Luckily, they weren’t the messiest avengers by far so it was quick. Well, Sam did because Steve mostly just looked at him.

“ _Everything’s okay?_ ”

_“Yeah_ ” Steve answered with a grin “ _I’m glad I get to have my friend back, that’s all_ ”

Clearing his throat, Sam wanted to tell him that he was strangely sappy but he felt the same so smiled and put back a water bottle into the fridge.

When Bucky came back, it was evident that he was hiding something under his hoodie and Sam even say so.

“ _I promise I’ll make up for it_ ”

“ _Do I want to know what you did in the first place?_ ”

“ _No_ ” the two men answered at the same time.

Sam just rolled his eyes and left.


	3. Date(s)

In the following weeks, Sam noticed how fluctuating Steve’s mood was. More often than not, when he thought no one was looking at him, he would wore a sad and longing expression that never left fast enough to pretend everything was okay.

He saw Peggy three times in total since the attempted wedding. The second time had been the break up but the third time was when they decided to cut the link between the two timelines, permanently.

Sam and Bucky were there with him when Scott and his team turned down the portal for good. Not a single tear escaped Steve. Even if he was nothing but resilient, it was easy to see that the man had a hard time moving on but he tried, little by little. Sam didn’t know how many time was appropriate to get over that kind of relationship but after four months, he hoped Steve was starting to feel better.

Among them, the one getting the more action was Bucky. After a period of gentle flirting around, he decided to throw himself in the dating scene but didn't object to simple fun time either.

The first two dates didn’t turned out that good but he had met a woman on a grocery refill who apparently made him nervous in all the right ways. He didn't say much about her but Sam still tried to be supportive. Apparently, Bucky was too shy to ask her on a date even if he finally got her number.

“ _Man, come on, if you’re too nervous for a little one on one, go to the movie or on double date with Steve, it would be like old time, no?_ ” Sam suggested one afternoon, flattered that his friend would come to him for any kind of advice.

Bucky thought about it “ _I don’t think he liked those very much but you’re right, I have to try. Is one week too soon? I don’t think so but Maria said…_ ”

“ _Dude, let her know you are into her, stop wasting time_ ” Sam said categorically before leaving him alone.

He knew Bucky lack some self-confidence so he didn’t want to push him too much but he had a lot to offer and Sam wanted his friend happy. 

What Sam had not anticipated was Bucky coming to him in the evening while he was training and telling him that the double date was a nice idea that she accepted right away. Sam congratulated him until he heard “ _But, uh, we talked about it and she seemed interested in the idea of you meeting one of her friends so…_ ”

“ _What?_ ”

“ _The date, you’re coming too_ ”

“ _Bucky, it was supposed to be Steve or anyone else_ ”

“ _Well, now it’s you and it’s tomorrow so, do your thing and be presentable. And don’t embarrass me, please_ ”

Sam was scandalized but amused by his friend's antics. The man told him nothing about the double date. What about the place? What about the person he was supposed to meet? Hell, what was the name of the women Bucky was talking to? He was already looking nervous so instead of questioning him, he nodded, fond at the way Bucky smiled at him.

* * *

“ _Bowling?! Dude!_ ”

“ _It was her idea_ ” Bucky hissed back, trying to appear cool and relaxed in front of the door. The red and pink neon sign almost blinding right behind them. People were walking around without a second look at the old building.

“ _You and your games night I swear…_ ”

“ _Shh, here they are!_ ”

Sam had no idea who he was looking for in the see of people around them. He did turn sharp at the “ _James, hey!_ ” he heard coming from his right.The woman he saw had an even bigger afro than in his memories but he would never forget those eyes and smile.

“ _Misty?!_ ”

“ _Samuel?_ ”

“ _You know each other?_ ”

Sam started to smile and Misty walked to him so they could hug. He even lifted her to wake them twirl as they laughed like children.

“ _Oh my god, how have you been?_ ” he asked her “ _Damn, it’s been years. That perfume, you smell incredible girl. Look at you, all beautiful and shit_ ” he complimented with an appreciative smile. He noticed the golden hand peering from her long black coat. “ _Oh, don’t tell me you two connected on this_ ”

She hit his shoulder, hard “ _Asshole. Ran into some troubles a few years ago_ ”

“ _I bet you did. You good thought?_ ” he asked, a bit worried. What was she doing that could meant a hand loss and a fancy prosthetic too?

“ _All good Wilson, all good_ ”

They were so happy to see each other again, they completely forgot about the other two people with them.

“ _What were the odds, uh?_ ” Bucky said nervously.

Sam felt the need to apologize and explain, “ _Sorry dude, yeah we know each other since high school, we just lost contact when I went into the military_ ”

“ _At the time, he had hair,_ ” she mocked. " _Those braids, mh mh_ "

Ah, they got style back in the day, that was for sure.

“ _But I still got the moves_ ” he joked back easily.

By her laugh, Bucky quickly understood that they had history. Someone cleared their throat behind her and Sam had no idea how he managed to not immediately see the black mountain behind Misty.

“ _Sam, Luke. Luke, Sam_ ”

The man was tall, that was for sure. Not a single hair on his bald, shinny head, skin deeper than Sam and dark laughing eyes. The man was sexy as fuck.

“ _Nice to meet you Sam_ ” Luke said with an appreciative look.

“ _Uh_ ” was all Sam could say as he took the presented hand.

Misty sighted “ _I’m really sorry, I thing I misunderstood James because I thought his friend was gay or…_ ”

“ _Oh, it’s, uh, all good…You know. I’m…_ ”

“ _Bi?_ ” Luke proposed with share understanding.

Sam was embarrassed but nodded one time.

“ _Ah_ ” Misty said, lost in her thought “ _Seems like we have some catching up to do_ ” She eyed Sam with amusement and curiosity before turning to Bucky “ _Are you Bi too? Because with two exes already, why not make it three?_ ”

“ _I…am not_ ” Bucky answered with round eyes “ _Wait a minute, exes?_ ”

“ _You dated her?_ ” Sam and Luke asked each other before laughing.

“ _Sweet Christmas_ ” the tall man added “ _Damn Misty_ ”

She elbowed him but he didn’t even flinch, too busy laughing to himself. Bucky proposed to go inside, letting Misty first, then Luke. When Sam tried to follow, he stopped him.

“ _Why I am this unlucky?_ ”

“ _Relax_ ” Sam smiled, patting Bucky’s cheek “ _She’s awesome, I can tell you that. It’s gonna be okay dude_ ”

He entered the bowling, Bucky on his trail.

Now, Sam wasn’t the type of man to think too highly of himself but if Luke’s behavior was anything to go by, the big man was charmed. Easy going and funny, he knew exactly when to be a show off and when to dial it back to make Sam was at ease. Sam knew Bucky and Misty were eyeing them at first but soon enough, they focused on themselves, letting Luke the opportunity to whispers discreetly in Sam’s ear “ _I like to see you roll that ball_ ”

“ _Bet the view is good_ ”

“ _Oh Samuel, it really is_ ”

That tone alone was making him hard and way too playful with someone he just met. Yeah, it's been quite some time since he got any kind of action so maybe it made him quite responsive. Also, Luke was like a tall Chocobon and Sam wanted him in his mouth, so, oh well.

“ _Keep on looking then, if you want_ ”

“ _Or maybe I could have a taste?_ ”

Sam stopped breathing for a few long seconds, biting his lips “ _Man…_ ”

Luke seemed so innocent, looking at Sam right back before getting up as his turn came. At this point, Bucky and Misty were talking to each other animatedly and did not care for them.

“ _It was a joke, right?_ ” he asked Luke when he came back on the small couch, just to be sure.

“ _I’m going to the restroom. Maybe we can see if I’m joking there?_ ”

With that, Luke excused himself and walked with assurance in the direction of the isolated restroom. _He has to be joking_ , Sam thought. Was he really suggesting that they did anything there?! In the restroom of a bowling of all places? He swore he wasn’t that type of man but…he had to check. For science.

After walking to the bar, pretending to check what was there he made sure his friends were still making googly eyes at each other and darted to the restroom. Luke was washing his hands, spotted Sam and walked to the farthest stall. Sam went in a few seconds later and as soon as the door closed, he felt Luke’s lips on his own. Then, the mouth was on his neck, his collarbone, his abs, and Luke had to sit on the closed toilet bowl since he was just too tall to be bending like he was.

“ _This okay?_ ” he whispered when he tried to open Sam’s jeans.

“ _Y-Yeah, all good_ ”

Sam’s cock jumped from his boxer once free and Luke gave Sam a pleased look through his lashes before licking the precum pooling. Closing his eyes, Sam felt two hands grab his hips and make him turn with a strength that could not be only human.

 _Oh_ he thought.

He felt a kiss on each cheek, then a playful bite. Luke movements were sure of themselves and Sam almost wanted to protest. At least he should pretend that he did not want that face between his asscheeks, right?

“ _Man, that’s a weird place for a tattoo_ ” Luke said, his hands slowly stroking the round generous ass.

Sam frowned “ _I don’t have a tattoo_ ”

“ _So, what’s this?_ ” he asked, his palm covered a place between his left cheek, his crack and his perineum.

Now, Sam was just totally lost “ _What are you talking about?!_ ” He turned to look at Luke who didn’t seem to understand what was going on either.

“ _If this isn’t a tattoo then…_ ”

The word echoed in his head. He had nothing on his ass. What the hell? “ _I have to go_ ” he pulled up his pants and got out.

 _This has to be a joke. It HAS to_. Sam couldn’t go back to Bucky and Misty without knowing what exactly was on his butt. Taking a few steps back, he walked into the lady’s restroom, quickly finding a free stall. Breathing deeply, he tried to find an angle to capture it with his phone. He hadn’t took a picture of his ass since…

He needed to calm down. The first picture showed that there was something but he couldn’t really identify what. How was he supposed to see what was there simply with his phone and his own two hands?! He did not want to go back to Luke and ask for his help. If, and that what a big **if** , what was on his ass was a mark…No. He would have known.

_Why did it have to be THERE?!_

Finally, on the fifth try, he managed to capture it well enough to see.

He felt his blood turn cold and his throat tighten so much it hurted. He closed his eyes, looked at the picture again, praying that the mark he saw would change somehow. It didn’t. It was the same circles as the ones he saw on his friend.

He pulled his pants up again, walked away and felt a dizziness he couldn’t shake. Luke was already with Bucky and Misty when he came back. Well, he didn’t care, he excused himself, said that he had an emergency and Bucky asked if he should come too but Sam, after a quick glance at Luke, said no and that he needed to enjoy the rest of the night. Bucky gave him the keys to the car then. Misty was visibly concerned and said that Sam looked like shit suddenly. The way Luke took his hand in both of his when he said goodbye was about to make him break right there so he hastily retreated outside.

He listened to the radio while driving but it did not took his mind out of it and he almost ended up in a tree because of how unfocused he was. He noticed that Bucky tried to call him but he couldn’t talk to him right now. To be honest, he was this close to park away and take another picture to check if he wasn’t just hallucinating.

Once at the compound, his body went on automatic to lead him to his place where he simply sunk into the couch and waited. It has to be an error. There has to be a difference. It just couldn’t be true he repeated to himself. The phone was in his pocket, burning and heavy. Maybe it was just the angle. Maybe it was really cubes instead of circles. Yeah, that was making senses.

Who was he kidding?

* * *

A series of loud knocks made him jump out of his skin. For a moment, he thought that if he said nothing, he would be left alone but another series and the AI announcing that Bucky and Steve knew he was inside and wanted to come in, made him revisit his decision.

He let the AI open the door and he two men barged in.

“ _What happened? Was it Luke?_ ” Bucky immediately asked, coming next to Sam on the couch while Steve sat on the other side.

Did he lost track of time for that long? What should he say? The truth, probably but how was he supposed to explain that he had a mark?

“ _The wedding_ ” he let escape, the realization hitting him like a bus.

Bucky was deeply frowning and Steve put a hand on Sam shoulder who flinched and got up to escape him.

“ _Sam?_ ”

“ _At the wedding…God, I am such an imbecile…Steve…Fuck…I’m so sorry…I never ever thought_ ” his throat refused to cooperate fully " _I swear, I swear I have nothing to do with this_ "

The other two men exchanged a glance “ _What with the wedding?_ ”

“ _I passed out_ ”

“ _Yeah, and?_ ” Steve continued carefully, as lost as his best friend.

The words were stuck in Sam’s throat and he was trying hard to let them out. If he couldn’t explain, he had to show him. He had to do something. Anything to be sure.

Sam turned, opening his jean slowly. He heard Bucky say his name in confusion but carried on. Once the pant got dropped mid-tight, he touched his boxer were he supposed the mark was underneath. His hand stayed there, frozen, partially catching the soft black fabric. He was showing his butt to them and the shame started to caught with his brain. Somehow, he felt like he was about to cry but there were no tears coming out, only his hand shaking.

He did not registered someone moving but Steve’s voice was closer “ _You want usto see, right?_ ”

Sam felt Steve’s hand on his and he was unable to make up his mind. Steve didn’t forced him, he waited until Sam allowed him to move his hand away, aware of his quick breathing.

“ _I…I’ll try to make it quick, okay Sam?"_ But Sam said nothing so he repeated because he needed to know this was okay.

“ _Y-Yeah_ ” he finally was able to whisper.

Right where Sam had caught the boxer previously, Steve did the same. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was supposed to see but he moved the underwear up slowly. He managed not to touch Sam directly since he believed it would displeased his friend even more. The first glimpse of a black trait made its appearance, and then Steve revealed a now familiar form and pattern. Not black then, deep blue with shades of marine and azure, changing like his.

Circles.

It was the exact same size as his and only half of it was visible without having to actually spread Sam’s ass a bit. Steve had a good vision. So did Bucky and they didn’t need more to know.

Steve took a step back, falling on the couch. Sam stayed still, not looking at Bucky or Steve while the deafening silence made his blood boil.

  
  
“ _How did you discover it?_ ” Steve demanded, his voice sounded far away, almost as if he hadn't meant to ask anything really.

  
  
Unable to filter his thoughts he said with brutal honesty “ _Luke saw it when we were fooling around during Bucky's date_ ” He put his pants up, having enough of exposing himself like that.

  
  
“ _Sam?!_ ” Bucky was scandalized. Steve only answered with an “ _Ah_ ”.  
Another heavy silence followed. After what seemed like an eternity, someone moved behind Sam and walked out of the apartment.

  
  
The other one came to face him. It was Bucky, looking all kinds of shocked and sorry.  
  
Slowly, deliberate as a warning, Bucky spread his arms and let Sam walked in.  
“ _That’s heavy_ ” He didn’t asked if Sam was okay because he was visibly not. “ _Let’s call it a night, what do you think?_ ”

  
  
Bucky brought him to the bathroom where the man did everything with his mind frozen.  
He looked barely better when he got out, not questioning Bucky’s presence. If he had a problem with him staying the night, he said nothing.  
  
In fact, the next time they talked was the following morning when Bucky dropped his heavy self on the bed next to Sam.  
Between dreams and consciousness, Sam just glared at him.

  
  
“ _Why aren’t you with Steve? He must be more shocked than I am_ ”

  
  
Bucky put his hands in his laps and rolled his thumbs “ _Even if that was true. I’m here because I saw how you left yesterday and I wanted to make sure you were managing_ ”

  
  
That was nice, Sam couldn’t deny it. Maybe a day would come where Sam would stop being surprised by Bucky’s friendship. He did thank him, giving a small fist bump on Bucky’s tight.  
  
“ _No problem. Listen, take the time you need to get used to the situation. It will be up to the two of you to define the kind of relationship you’re going to have ultimately. Nothing has to change, if you don’t want to_ ”

  
  
Sam very much doubted that. They were on the recovery road for their friendship and a soulmark was not something you could just ignore. Did that mean that they were platonic soulmates? Did he ruined Steve love’s life just because of the universe way of saying this is your best friend? If that was the case, that would be fucked up.  
  



	4. I am Steve Rogers and I'm here to make it clear...

  
Bucky left and unfortunately, for Sam, if his morning was free, he had planned a lunch with Wanda, Maria and Peter.  
  
He may not have been close enough to Peter and Maria to talk about his sudden situation but he would have told Wanda if they have been alone. The problem was that Maria had heard of the double date and was interested in having Sam’s impression. He thought it wasn’t a huge deal to talk about it as long as he kept the juicy parts to himself.  
  
“ _Oh, the guy...Luke. As large as Thor. Like a black Mister Clean_ ”

  
  
“ _Sounds nice!_ ” Peter chipped in.

  
  
Sam did not know how to take this sort of new relationship with Peter. The guy was less than half his age, shouldn’t it be weird? It was a bit weird right? But he had decided to be cool about it so he smiled.

  
  
“ _He was. Very charismatic sometimes and discreet otherwise. Like he could just switch it up. Anyway, the woman Barnes is seeing is a friend from high school. World’s small_ ”

  
  
“ _He must have been shocked_ ” Wanda supposed and Sam nodded, barely able to say that this wasn’t the only surprise of the night “ _What is she like?_ ”

  
  
“ _One hella badass, I got to tell you_ ” Sam scoffed “ _It was so funny seeing Bucky trying to be sweet but I can tell she likes it when he is a little shit too_ ”

  
  
“ _Now I want to meet her_ ” Maria said, getting agreement from the others as well.

  
  
Sam was glad no one seemed to knew what he got into. In the back of his mind, he was thinking about Steve. This has to be one of the most confusing and unexpected situation they could be thrown in together.  
He wanted to see him but wasn’t sure about what to say. Maybe he should wait, as Bucky suggested but how was he supposed to spend days or weeks without knowing what Steve wanted to do about their situation?  
Sam needed some answers quickly because paranoia wasn’t a cute look on him and he was getting anxious.  
  
Things did not get better when Maria started to talk about her own latest mission. If Sam thought that being victim of rumors was bad, he truly felt for Erica, an agent working closely with Maria for a few years. Two days ago, the poor woman had to deal with a vampire clan problem. This clan, specifically, was matriarchal and only consisted of women. Their thing was that they decided to feed only on men, whether they were consenting to it or not. Sam did not know a lot about vampire law but one thing he was sure of was that on this plane, any being who fed on humans needed their express validation to proceed.

Maria was extremely annoyed while sharing the real story (already distorted by said rumors). Her friend had fall out right before the fight, as well as the matriarch’s daughter, the both of them developing a quick soulmark right in front of everyone. On the bright side, no one had been hurt physically. On the other side…Erica was more than opposed to the whole thing and it was understandable, for one, the vampires were extremely serious when it came to soulmates since it was even rarer with the undeads and therefore, more precious in their eyes. Sam did not doubt that being welcomed in a family you wanted no part in was scary, especially with immortal blood suckers. Even then, the real problem what that Erica was married to a man, had children and, if what Maria knew was right, never once in her life considered dating a woman. She was perfectly happy with her life and a simple moment changed everything.

Sam only knew that story partially until now so he was as shocked as the others even if it rings painfully in his ears. He knew it wasn’t his “fault” but he did ruined Steve’s perfect vision because of the mark. And for what?

He enjoyed eating with them, but he still felt relieved when he had to go. This story was a reminder that he wouldn’t be able to escape destiny for long, one way or another.

  
  
A way too long (but helpful) meeting followed the lunch. One of the topic was about Sam’s reception by the public as the new Captain America. This month was a bad month. Not the worst but not that great either. A lot of people wanted him to shut up about politics and be a good soldier but Captain America was political by essence.  
Somehow, saying things like “ _don’t kill black people_ ” was too radical and he hadn’t come out yet so he knew it would be even worse then.  
  
The PR team tried their best to get everything as smooth as they could. Sam saw that they worked hard and it was also thanks to them that he started to gain some solid traction.  
While he certainly wasn’t expecting any praise, he did hoped to receive some external validation. People cursing you out for things out of your control was a classic but coming from family? He almost regretted the time he was on the run instead of having to deal with people who thought they knew better, relentlessly trying to come for his head. How did Steve prevented himself from being too bitter?

Steve.

How many times had he thought about him today? Was it too much? Was it normal? It probably was. The perfect amount for someone who got their soulmate. Well, technically, it was five months ago.

He had a fucking soulmate in the person of Steve Rogers and, to him, this was still an, almost, unbelievable information. He hitched to see him, something he couldn’t even do properly last night. Forcing himself to go through the last portion of the meeting, he did send a text to Steve asking if they could talk later. A bit more than half an hour later, he still had no answer. It annoyed him. It annoyed him that he was annoyed at the lack of response in the first place. It was stupid, he knew it but it made him restless. At night, he couldn’t sleep at all and was fighting with himself not to call him but if he did not answer, it must have been because he was busy. Probably. There was something about thinking about him this often that felt annoying and that, even if he had Steve on his mind fairly often before already. Before they knew about the mark, before the mark itself, before the whole wedding idea…before the blip. After living so many things together, of course, Steve would have a special place in his heart, it didn’t mean…He couldn’t even go to the end of this in his mind.

Two in the morning became three and a short series of knocks scared him senseless. It came from the apartment door and he almost convinced himself that this was only in his tired mind but his body was moving out of the bed so he could open the door. He only took a minute at best but Steve was already near the elevator. He had stopped and turn because of the sound and they looked at each other in silence, both as surprised as the other one.

“ _Sam, I…I can’t sleep_ ” he said with a breathy voice.

Sam nodded without saying a word but Steve still took it as an invitation to come closer and walk inside. He wasn’t looking so sure of himself while doing so. closed behind them “ _Do you want something to drink? Or we could watch something_ ”

“ _I’m coming back from a daylong mission, I just need to be able to shut my damn mind_ ” Steve complained, frustrated with himself “ _I don’t know why I thought about coming here but.._ ”

“ _Okay, okay_ ” Sam cut “ _Follow me_ ”

If Sam thought Steve would still be shy or ashamed, he was wrong. Hell, Steve was in the bed before him even. God, he didn’t imagine the breath of relief the man next to him let out once Sam laid too.

“ _This is so fucked up_ ” Steve whispered.

“ _I mean, you’re not wrong_ ”

“ _I can’t even say which part of me feeling better now is due to our friendship or this mark_ ” he said, putting both of his large hands on his face.

Sam turned away from him but a few seconds later, he felt Steve moved behind him and, yeah, he was getting closer. After two more minutes where Sam thought this would be the end of it. Something touched his back, near his shoulder blade. By the breath on his t shirt, he knew it was Steve’s head.

“ _You better behave Rogers, now sleep, we’ll talk tomorrow_ ”

“ _Yes Captain_ ” the man behind him answered.

The worst part, Sam thought, was how his mind and body did start to relax until he felt asleep. Was it what it would take now? Steve’s body next to him to give him a little bit of solace?

* * *

Sam woke up lost. Not because he didn’t know where he was but because during the night, Steve managed to completely cling to him without waking him up. And yep, he was holding on a muscular, pale arm, an arm hugging him and ending by a hand put under his t shirt and flat on his stomach.

 _Oh shit, oh shit_ he started to freak out.

He slept with Steve a lot before and it never ended up like that. Steve Rogers, from Sam’s experience was not a sleep-hugger. So what was this? Why Steve’s body was so hot against him? If it had been someone else, someone he was dating, he would have rolled his body even closer to him but that was Steve. Straight Steve. This wasn’t about to end well for either of them.

Yet, Sam did not move right away. The sensation of Steve’s body against him was just too good to leave immediately. He wanted to give up and get even closer to him, wanted to hold on Steve like Steve was holding onto him. His thoughts quickly went from cute to dirty and he wasn’t the type to imagine his friends like that but he wanted to feel Steve’s cock against his ass and if he arched…The hand on his stomach started to move up and Sam froze. Grazing his skin, it stopped against his chest.

Sam was going crazy.

“ _Your heart beats so fast_ ”

“ _Of course my heart beat fast Rogers! A dude is holding me like a giant teddy bear!_ ”

“ _Wow, you’re feisty this morning_ ” Steve groaned.

Sam jumped out of the bed in a flash, feeling cold and missing Steve’s body immediately but it was too late “ _Y-You stop that, dude!_ ”

Steve sat and looked at Sam with sleepy eyes. Even then, Sam saw were they were directed at. First his head, then lower, and lower. Steve bit his lips, smiled, tried not to laugh and only then Sam noticed the bulging problem of his nether regions. The shame alone made him jump on the bed, grab a pillow and hit Steve with it.

“ _Shut up!_ ”

_“I said nothing_ ” Steve tried to defend himself between the assault, his laugh cutting his sentence.

“ _Stop looking at my dick_ ”

Sam punctuated each words with a hit, until Steve retaliated, grabbed his wrists and pinned him under his body. To be fair, he did try to free himself but failed.

“ _Sam, a boner is a healthy and natural phenomenon. No need to be ashamed_ ”

The blocked man took way too long to answer, instead he was too busy looking at Steve and loosing himself in his eyes.

“ _Sam?_ ”

“ _Uh?_ ”

“ _Are you okay?_ ”

“ _No. Yes. I don’t know_ ” Steve let him go, sleepiness replaced by worry in his eyes. “ _I’m just confused by the whole thing_ ”

“ _Me too_ ” Steve admitted too. Sam finally stopped looking at Steve’s eyes, only to look at his mark. He wanted to touch it so much he had to close his hand. Steve noticed. “ _You can touch it if you want, since it's yours_ ”

“ _Really?_ ” Sam asked instead of answering a firm “ _no_ ”. Then " _Mine? Dude_ " he chuckled nervously " _I mean, we could look at it like that I guess"_

Steve nodded and just sat straighter. The room, Sam could swear, was even more silent. He wondered why he was denying himself so much. To touch your soulmate’s mark wasn’t some dangerous procedure after all yet he was hesitating. Steve sighted and proposed his own hand to help Sam.

“ _I can touch you myself, thank you_ ”

“ _Then do it, why are you so goddamn annoying about it?_”

“ _I am not_ ”

“ _Yes, you are_ ” Steve said with finality.

Sam kept his mouth shut and brought his fingers to the skin. It was warm, warmer than the usual warmth of Steve anyway. At first, his fingertips traced the pattern without putting too much pressure but he needed more and put his whole hand on it. He wanted to kiss it, to sleep on it, he wanted…

He took his hand back, avoiding putting his eyes on Steve again. More, he wanted more. He wanted Steve against him. Bad plan.

“ _I…Can I…_ ”

Sam’s eyes went big and searching, he touched Steve’s, now Steve wanted to touch the one on his skin. But his was on his ass, what was he supposed to do? That said, He showed him already so why was he being shy again now? He needed to be fair and they were both adults so. Sam laid, head resting on his arms and dropped his boxer so that his whole ass was out. He wanted to say something funny but he found nothing, instead, he looked toward the closed window.

“ _You sure you’re okay with this?_ ”

“ _Well, I get why you wouldn’t want to touch there_ ”

“ _No-It’s…_ ” Steve started before seemingly giving up.

Sam felt Steve finger brush the mark just as he did. “ _It’s really the same as mine_ ” he commented, more amazed than Sam thought he would be. “ _Oh, by the way, nice ass Sam. It’s really round and…uh…there. Like, it goes well with your body_ ”

Sam moved so that he could look at Steve’s red face. “ _Thank you?_ ”

“ _I mean_ ” he coughed “ _You already knew you had a great butt. I don’t need to tell you that_ ”

“ _Obviously_ ”

_“Obviously…I just wanted to say that. Great butt. Congratulations_ ”

At least, it made Sam laugh. He dragged his boxer up and fully turned “ _We don’t need to change anything Steve. You know that? We are still the same friends we were before_ ”

Steve was taken aback by Sam’s words “ _What do you mean?_ ”

“ _This mark, it doesn’t mean we have to date or fall in love. It’s just a connection. It’s up to us to define it, right? So we can stay friends just like we were. I know it’s a shock, to have a man as a soulmate but it doesn’t have to change us_ ”

“ _It’s…We are soulmate Sam, what do you mean it doesn’t have to change anything?_ ” Steve’s surprise was tainted by exasperation.

“ _I mean, we can stay friends, that’s all_ ”

“ _You want to stay friends?_ ”

Because the other option in Sam's mind was stopping to see each other, he answered a loud “ _Of course!_ ”

They looked at each other in surprise. Sam thought that Steve would want exactly that so why wasn’t he relieved? Why was he surprised? Sam’s phone vibrated loudly. He took a few seconds to locate it then answer the call.

“ _Shit, they gave me an interview in an hour and a half, I need to go_ ”

Jumping out of the bed, he disappeared in the bathroom without even closing the door. In the middle of it, he heard Steve leave the apartment and felt his chest tighten.

* * *

A month passed after that and their relation went back to being weird. They both tend to look at the other more than before and whenever they had to sit in the same room, they never were too much apart. Sam had been afraid they would become sort of co-dependent but, luckily, they did not have a redux of the shared night episode. It didn’t mean that they were sleeping super well but it was okay.

It had been made obvious that they felt better when they were close physically. That was the reason why Sam did not refused as much as he should have when Steve came back in the field and worked with him on a mission. The mission itself went perfectly but Sam started to wonder how long it would take before someone decided that Steve should take back the Captain America mantle. Besides, he couldn’t pretend that having someone like Bucky and Steve with him made everything quicker and less stressing. They just worked extremely well together.

One mission became two then three and Sam noticed how some people would wait for Steve approval instead of his. Steve, in his opinion, had to be aware of this. He had to notice the double check some agents would do when Steve did not looked too convinced by some of his decisions.

It was only a matter of time before Sam stopped keeping his mouth shut about it and it all happened when an enhanced villain decided that Sam Wilson was just useless.

“ _Glad to see that the real Captain America is back. I am not here to fight some chiken-guy_ ” he had say, his big brown eyes barely checking Sam.

The guy was unnaturally tall and, judging by the wounded or killed police officers around, had to be at least as strong as Bucky and Steve. His only goal so far seemed to be fighting Captain America, attacking everyone to catch their attention. It worked.

Sam took a step toward him and let his wings and the shield fell on the ground. His team members immediately tried to stop him but one hand motion and a look shut them up. Sam was pissed

Steve still wanted to intervene but Bucky managed to hold him back. He knew how Sam fought and trusted him enough to hope he knew what he was doing. He felt how nervous and frustrated Steve was and thought that it has to take all of his willpower not to try to toss him away to join his soulmate.

“ _I said I don’t care about…uh?_ ”

The villain looked at his shoulder where a blade had landed. By the time he turned to look back at Sam, another one hit the right shoulder and two found a temporary home in his right tight as well.

When he launched himself in rage, Sam managed to grab one of the blade of his tight, making the man bleed and scream. Bucky thought he knew how Sam fought but he never saw him like this. He did took some blows and was even thrown against a wall at some point, yet, Bucky had no doubt that Sam would win.

He wasn’t sure if Sam got bored or if there was another reason but the Captain finished the fight quickly by planting one of the blade in the giant’s neck. The way he stood, not even panting, looking at the body losing its life made Bucky pause.

“ _I hate this shit_ ” he said before calling the medical team and giving orders to the rest of the team.

Steve’s eyes did not left Sam from that cold Binghamton street back to the compound. Bucky thought that he should engage the conversation to be sure his friends wouldn’t go in another fight but he took too much time and when Sam took the way opposite to the medical bay, it was too late.

Steve practically jumped in front of him to stop his soulmate with a hand on his chest. He gave him a warning look and when Sam tried to walk past him, Steve grabbed him and dragged him toward a nurse.

Bucky just managed to hear “ _Samuel, I swear to God…_ ” before the two of them disappeared.

Steve waited outside the room for Sam and as soon as he got out he asked what the Captain thought back there. He lectured him for so long in angry whispers that even the nurse had to ask them to take it elsewhere, so Steve continued as Sam walked to the elevator and then to his place. Steve hadn’t been invited but he entered all the same, still on his “ _How can you put yourself in danger like this?_ ” rant.

“ _Are you done?_ ” Sam finally asked by the time he already drank some water and took off his shirt, revealing a bandaged torso.

“ _I don’t understand why…_ ”

“ _Well, maybe because everyone is waiting for you to come back as Captain America? It’s one thing to have the media salivate at the idea of me fucking up it’s another thing when even villains tries to dismissed me_ ”

“ _You have nothing to prove_ ” Steve answered with resolution.

Sam knew he believed that.“ _But I do. That’s the thing. I do have to step up and show that I am my own Captain. That I can do it. It’s worse since you are back in mission with us Steve. They see you and they all look at me like an impostor, a fake, a fraud_ ”

Sam didn’t want to be so emotional about it. He really didn’t want to let all of this reach him, he even said so to Steve but it was starting to be a bit too much for him. Steve took him in his arm and Sam was so surprised by the gesture he didn’t move “ _I know how lonely it is and how ungrateful people can be. I did not experienced being Captain America the same way you are but I am here for you Sam. I won’t take anything from you because you deserve it. You hear me?_ ”

He nodded, taking a strong inspiration in Steve’s neck. When he let him go, Sam felt cold for a moment but the smile the man gave him was worth it. It was the first time Sam felt the urge to kiss him as strongly. It was the way Steve touched him, his eyes, the way he talked to him and a lot more things that washed over Sam completely.

There wasn’t any place anymore to lie to himself, what he was feeling for Steve wasn’t friendship anymore. He was fucked.

_“Why are you straight?_ ” he asked himself.

“ _What?_ ” Steve said, eyes wild suddenly.

“ _Uh?_ ”

“ _You…You said…_ ”

Sam yawned “ _Sorry, I must be tired. I’ll see you around Rogers_ ”. He walked away, unaware of the confused eyes on him.

* * *

Three hours and still nothing. Sam and Sharon had been waiting in that small hotel room for three hours and the crime syndicate leader they were waiting for was still absent. Their intel had been shitty about that but they were right about the old building facing them, something was going on. It was raining heavily. Enough to push everyone out of the streets to take shelter.

In a rapid succession, five cars stopped in front of the building to let two or three people outside each time, all running inside to escape the weather. It was both too dark and too rainy for the pair to identify who went in. Sharon picked their heat signature for less than a minute each time before it looked like they vanished. She fiddled with the high tech binoculars, adjusting them until she found what she was looking for.

“ _There’s a portal inside_ ” she said “ _Wait, someone’s is inviting themselves. I’m warning Steve_ ”

They prepared themselves to fly together right behind the pair of people breaking in. Steve appeared near them just as Sam foot touched the ground.

“ _Guess you forgot your keys_ ” Sam called out.

The pair froze before they could reach the portal and turned. The woman held her arm up and sighted.

“ _Misty?!_ ”

“ _You know her?_ ” Sharon asked, gun ready to fire.

Misty smiled “ _This is awkward_ ”

Sam looked at the shadowed figure next to her “ _You’ve got to be kidding me, what are you two doing here?_ ”

“ _Wait a minute, Sam? Is that you?_ ” the man asked then, pulling out the hood out of his hairless scalp “ _You set me up with The Falcon?! With Captain America?_ ”

Sam felt Steve turned to look at him in silence. _Oh oh…_

“ _Sam?_ ”

“ _Okay, we don’t have the time to talk all that much, we are in the middle of a serious problem right now and…_ ”

“ _Don’t even think for a second that you are going through this portal without us. I bet you don’t even have a key_ ” Misty cut “ _Yeah, we have one, just not for the front door_ ”

Sam looked at Sharon then Steve, of course they needed a key to activate he portal, silly them.

“ _It’s dangerous Misty…_ ”

“ _You think I got that arm by being an accountant?_ ”

Sam rolled his eyes and made a hand movement so they could proceed. He could see Steve and Luke eye each other but now wasn’t the time to think about it. While Misty was placing what he guessed was the key on the control panel, he explained what they were here to arrest an homicidal maniac. Luckily, they shared a common enemy.

“ _Lacroix managed to find a way to transfer a soul into another body_ ” Sharon explained, “ _He is doing it for months for known criminals so they can escape justice_ ”

“ _He takes people in the street, people no one would ask questions about to do it_ ” Luke said softly right before they appeared on the other side in a white room with an opened door “ _Did their things on two guys I knew_ ”

“ _I’m sorry man,_ ” Sam offered.

Luke seemed resolute. He nodded, already walked out in the hallway first.

“ _I’m picking up a lot of people here_ ” Sharon warned. She was turning on herself, using the binoculars.

“ _Hold up cowboy, they got weapons_ ” Sam said to Luke, trying to stop him.

Luke smiled at him “ _Don’t worry, they would have a time hurting me_ ”

Misty patted Sam’s shoulder as she passed him before he could ask what that mean. He trusted her enough not to make a scene about it but he could tell Sharon and Steve weren’t pleased about it either.

Well, there was no need to worry, it turned out, because Luke Cage was impervious to all types of blades and bullets they encountered during the following battle. And he was a show off. Something Steve picked on quickly, resulting in him trying to be extra too. Sam didn’t know if Sharon and Misty noticed but he did and he mouthed a “ _What are you doing?_ ” in Steve direction after a particular extra combo, pose included.

Luke chuckled, right before punching Lacroix one time, enough to make the man fall on the floor knocked out.

The mission was a success but the number of bodies waiting to be taken over was frightening. Once secured, the shield agents and the police worked together. Sharon, Steve, Misty, Luke and Sam walked away to the Avengers van hided a few minutes’ away.

“ _So, how do you all know each other exactly?_ ” Sharon asked innocently.

Sam really had hoped he would have been let off the hook. Misty blinked once “ _Well, long story short, they are both my exes and I introduced them during a date with James_ ”

Sharon’s nodded as she understood “ _Oh, the bowling?!_ ”

“ _Yeah, the one Sam ran away from. By the way, what the hell happened? Neither Luke or James want to tell me anything_ ” Misty complained.

They all got inside, allowing for more privacy. Sam never knew how to lie to Misty Knight. He didn’t like to lie to his friends in the first place but he didn’t know if telling the blunt truth would be a good idea. He wasn’t about to expose Steve so he told what concerned him only.

“ _Well, it appeared to me during the evening that I have a soulmark so…It was a surprise_ ”

Both Sharon and Misty seemed shocked but quickly, they noticed that Steve and Luke did not react at all. In perfect synchronization, they both turned to their friend and asked “ _You knew?_ ”

It would have been hilarious if it wasn’t so sad because Luke and Steve seemed really, really uneasy, both looking at Sam for what they were supposed to say.

“ _There’s a reason for that but I can’t talk about it without their explicit accord,_ ” Sam warned, thinking that the two of them would refuse to let Sharon and Misty know their part of the story.

It was without thinking about how noisy the two women could be. Sam heard the name “ _Peggy_ ” and “ _Jessica_ ” and suddenly, both of the two men make a desperate and annoyed sound. Suddenly, it was all in the hands of Sam, which he didn’t thought was exactly fair (especially on Steve’s part). Since he talked to Steve and Bucky about the mark, he hadn’t shared the information with anyone and it’s been months now.

“ _Okay, the truth is that Luke saw the mark on me during the bowling. It’s somewhere I can’t see by myself usually. And Steve and Bucky knows because…It’s actually the same mark as Steve, so I showed them_ ”

Luke look straight into Steve’s eyes while Misty shook her head. Sharon’s eyebrows went up, then down, then up again.

“ _I’m so sorry_ ” she said to Sam softly, a hand on his forearm. Then, she turned to Steve “ _Wow…dude…_ ”

“ _Oh, this Steve? Damn. And seriously Luke, you’re thirsty like this? In a Bowling?_ ”

Luke laughed at Misty accusation “ _Come on, look at him_ ”. He gave Misty then Sam a very explicit look who got Sam hot and made him chuckled.

“ _Yeah, yeah, I admit his physique wasn’t the reason we separated to say the least_ ” she answered as if they were alone.

Sam continued to giggle, way too pleased, when Steve’s face sort of came into view with lips pressed and raised eyebrows. Sam cleared his throat “ _So, where to I drive the two of you?_ ”

After letting Luke and Misty near the Dempsey theater, the silence felt awkward for a few minutes. Steve was driving while Sharon and Sam were in the back, Finally, after twenty minutes, Sharon sighted.

“ _So you two…_ ”

“ _It doesn’t change anything. We’re still friends. Just friends_ ” Sam was way too quick to answer. It showed that that was something he had on his mind often. He missed how tense that made Steve be.

“ _You two are soulmates, what do you mean it doesn’t change anything?_ ” she laughed, incredulous “ _Wait a minute, you truly believe it?_ ”

“ _Steve isn’t suddenly going to like men just because of a freaking tattoo. Right Steve?_ ”

“ _Do you even want to know?_ ” the blond gritted through his teeth.

“ _Exactly! He doesn’t…uh? Whatchu said?_ ” Sam asked, taken aback by Steve’s attitude.

“ _Dunno. You never asked what I wanted or how I felt. You just assumed a whole lotta’ things so, keep assuming_ ”

Sam had to close his eyes for a short moment; he wasn’t making sense “ _What are you talking about?_ ”

“ _Maybe I shouldn’t be here for that conversation_ ” Sharon tried, even if she really wanted to know what their deal was. It seemed like the polite thing to say.

Steve was pissed “ _No, maybe it will force Sam to stop putting words in my mouth for once_ ”

They were still in the van so Sam had no escape. He looked at Sharon who give him the same confused face back.

“ _When did I ever did that?! Why are you mad?_ ”

“ _Right now! And with Bucky too!_ “ ** _Oh, Steve is straight, he doesn’t care about his soulmate_** ” _or_ “ ** _It doesn’t change anything_** ” _I heard you said that at least five times already, I swear_ ”

Steve’s outburst lost Sam even more “ _Because it’s the truth?!_ ”

“ _No, it’s not!_ ”

“ _Stop the car_ ”

“ _What?_ ”

“ _Stop the fucking car, Steven!_ ”

The van took a sharp turn and ten seconds later, was parked near a closed bakery. Steve stayed with his hands on the wheel at first before moving on the back near Sharon to face Sam. She was silent, observing her two friends without interrupting but memorizing everything. She did not expect all of this tonight.

“ _Steve, I need you to explain clearly what is going on, please,_ ” Sam asked without animosity. “ _When you talked to me about your mark, you told me you didn’t care. We told you, she could be in the other timeline and you did not care, your words, not mine_ ”

Steve’s hands became fists before he forced them open right after.

“ _I was fresh out of my attempted wedding; of course I was bitter and angry! What did you expected? I had a life ahead with Peggy and suddenly that was gone. I didn’t want anybody else_ ”

“ _Then what’s different now?_ ”

“ _You_ ”

Sam whole body recoiled at the word, he hit his head but was too shocked to notice. “ _I am not.._ ”

“ _What? A woman? Thank you, I never noticed_ ” Steve answered bitterly “ _You say it doesn’t change anything, but it does for me Sam. And yeah, it’s complicated because this isn’t what I would have pictured for myself but it doesn’t mean I can be next to you and not…wonder_ ”

There was no anger between them, just feelings they did not know what to do with.

“ _A soulmark won’t change your sexuality Steve_ ”

“ _Let me deal with my sexuality on my own terms Sam, please. Stop this_ ”

“ _Okay_ ” Sam said, putting his hands in the air in defeat briefly “ _I was just trying to make thing easy for you. So what do you want from me?_ ”

“ _I don’t know…I just want to stop walking on eggshell whenever we are together. I want to be able to just not overthink each of our interactions. I want us to just be us_ ”

Sam understood. He had to catch himself from looking at Steve too much or being too close, but he was often failing and it was a mess. He wasn’t sure just following his instinct would be any better but it was worth giving it a try. He sighted, nodded and looked away.

Steve moved back to the driver seat, taking a minute before starting the van again.

“ _You okay?_ ” Sharon asked.

Sam risked an eye to Steve “ _We will be_ ”


	5. Forward

On the way back to the compound Sam wondered how he was supposed to make things better between Steve and him. So far, his approach had proven unsuccessful. Steve could say “ _let’s just be us_ ” all he wanted, it didn’t change the fact that, to Sam’s knowledge, Steve considered himself as straight and that he was ready to marry a whole other person. The idea that his friend could suddenly turn “Gay for him” felt like bullshit and a lot of pressure to put on their relationship. Far from thinking that he “turned” someone and finding pride in that, he thought that he had a duty to make sure Steve made an informed decision before finding himself in a messy situation.

Once arrived, they got out of the car and Sam was surprised to hear himself make a proposition to Steve “ _My place tonight?_ ”

It wasn’t something Steve had been expecting, searching something in his soulmate’s eyes and almost answering verbally. Finally, he nodded and they said goodnight to Sharon who smiled at them fondly.

Sam was nervous, walking with Steve now felt different but the silence, even if it was still heavy, changed into something a bit more comfortable. They made it inside and started peeling of their suit then Steve went into the shower first while Sam made them a sandwich. He was glad Steve helped himself with his clothes without having to ask if only because he remembered that he had absolutely no plan. He felt something at seeing the man with his grey short and accorded tee. It was far from being the first time they shared clothes but since they “knew”, everything tasted different. Part of Sam hated it. He hated how they were pulled toward each other as if they had no other choices and that’s what kept bugging him, did Steve felt like he had a choice?

They ate in silence too and Sam went in the bathroom right after. By the time he got out, it was late enough that they went directly to bed. Steve laid next to him instead of trying to take the couch which did not eased Sam’s mind. At least they pretended for a few minutes that they were going to sleep without facing each other. Sam cracked first, turning to look at the large back in front of him. It wasn’t for long as Steve did the same not two minutes later.

Sam closed his eyes, trying to even out his breath. Laying there, he remembered all the times he secretly hoped Steve would feel something for him out of their friendship. Here they were soulmate, like a joke with a punchline that could make it either amazing or just lame. As scared as he was, he decided to make the first move.

He scooted closer and felt Steve put an arm on his hips tentatively. At least he knew the guy was just a nervous as himself. After a few minutes, they started to relax, letting sleep wash over them during the rest of the night.

* * *

He took longer than usually to wake up. It was as if his whole body was heavier and too comfortable to move. He felt some air caress his neck and tickling him. It was pleasant enough to make him smile then giggle.

Now, to his defense, Sam hadn’t slept in someone’s arm in years so the feeling of having a body under his head and an arm on his back wasn’t popping in his mind quickly enough to make the connection.

“ _Sammy?_ ” the groggy voice of one Steve Rogers asked, stirring just enough to make Sam open his eyes. When the event of the precedent night came back to his mind, he tried to move away but couldn’t because of Steve keeping him in place. “ _What did we talked about?_ ” he warned.

“ _It didn’t mean we had to randomly cuddle and shit_ ” Sam muttered after having stopped trying to escape.

“ _Come on, please_ ”

He sighted and changed his mind, choosing to nest more comfortably against Steve’s body. It was nice…Really nice…Too nice.

“ _Steve, shit, okay, don’t be offended please but you have to let me go before I pop a boner against your leg man, again_ ’

“ _Oh_ ”

“ _Yeah_ ”

“ _Well…Told you it’s natural, I guess. It means we are both healthy and all. I often wake up like that. Like today. But umh, yeah, I didn’t want to make it awkward. What I want to say it that it’s okay and I just want to stay like this_ ”

 _What the fuck?!_ Sam thought at the explanation. Of course it should be awkward. What’s next? Give each other back massages?

_Umh, Steve massaging me…_

The other man laughed, “ _Sammy has a stiffy_ ” he started to sing song.

“ _That’s it! I’m leaving,_ ” he complained loudly, disengaging himself from Steve only to be caught and brought back on the bed.

This time, he was spread on his back with Steve half laying on top of him.

“ _Y’smell nice_ ” he said.

“ _Steve…man…please don’t do that_ ”

“ _Do what?_ ”

“ _Fuck.._ ”

Steve sighted, letting Sam go only so he could sit and look him in the eyes “ _Please, tell me what’s wrong?_ ”

“ _I worked very hard not to fall in love with you before and I can’t do that if you’re all up in my space, sorry_ ”

_Ah_ , Sam thought, _that wasn’t what I wanted to say at all._

“ _What…do you mean?_ ”

Sam groaned, forcing himself to expose that part of him “ _Steve, with all that we’ve been through, how could I not? You can’t imagine how often I had to look the other way or forced myself to go out and fuck someone else when I was too weak to keep my feelings bottled. Each time I knew I was going too soft I had to find a way to let go. It was hard, but it’s even worse now. I’m not that strong_ ”

The blond passed both of his hands in his hair. The sun was already peeking through the windows and light curtain.

“ _I’m such an idiot…I had some doubts sometimes but you always threw me off and I swear I saw it in your eyes the day I said I was seeing Peggy again. I thought I hurt you then but I wasn’t sure… I’m so sorry_ ”

“ _No, it’s my own fault. I choose that when I decided to stay with you no matter what all these years ago, at least, until you didn’t need me anymore_ ”

“ _That’s not true, Sam, you know I’ll always need you. Even without the mark. Remember, I had to corner you so you talked to me_ ” Steve was clearly pained “ _If I can help it, I don’t want you out of my life, ever_ ”

They ddin’t want to go back there but they had to revisit the past as the recent revelations cast a new light on their relationship. They misunderstood each other for way too long.

“ _Listen Steve, all I know is that this wasn’t what you had in mind when you imagined your soulmate and I don’t know what to do_ ”

They stayed silent for a while, thinking about it. They looked at each other periodically, more uncertain than the previous night.

“ _Do you want to just stay friends?_ ” Steve voice was more miserable as he proposed the option. It sure did not seemed like that was what he wanted.

“ _I thought you didn’t want that_ ” Sam pointed.

“ _And I didn’t know you could fall in love with me. So?_ ”

It was weird, in Sam’s opinion, to hear Steve being annoyed at the situation for these reasons. It sounded like he was happy to have Sam as his soulmate. In his mind, Steve would be flipping out way more but maybe he made a big deal out of nothing.

“ _Dude, I’m totally lost_ ”

Steve tilted his head at the admission, looking straight into Sam’s eyes. He put his hand on his soulmate’s tight and the other on his arm before bringing it up to his shoulder and finally his cheek.

“ _Steve?_ ”

“ _Please, let me do this_ ”

“ _What are you talking about?_ ”

“ _Kiss you_ ”

Sam started to fill a mix of panic, embarrassment and anticipation “ ** _Kiss me?!_** ”

“ _Shut up_ ”

“ _So romant…_ ”

Contrary to popular beliefs, Sam Wilson never been shut up by a kiss before. He also never imagined himself in this exact situation with his friend turned soulmate.

“ _This isn’t bad_ ” Steve said after a few seconds “ _Like…this is better than how I imagined kissing a man would be_ ” And he kissed Sam again without waiting. The surprised man answered it with prudence this time. “ _Much better_ ”

His kiss was filled with something heavy and syrupy; something that made Sam gasped and allowed the blond to slide his tongue in his mouth. Suddenly, a hand was on Sam’s ass so he lifted Steve’s shirt just enough to touch his skin. Steve pushed him on the bed so he was on his back (again) and installed himself between his legs while maintaining a torturing distance between their body somehow.

When they separated, Sam had no idea what Steve’s look meant. He knew however that his own body was hot and he wanted more. He needed Steve’s against him and wanted to explore his body with his mouth. Steve’s face changed to show curiosity.

“ _I like the way you kiss_ ” he said

Sam tried to hide his smile, finally feeling free to explore this new part of their relationship “ _You’re not bad at it yourself_ ”

“ _Just not bad?_ ”

He gave a teasing “ _Meh_ ”

“ _Maybe I should train a bit more then_ ” Steve playfully said, attacking Sam’s mouth again.

He couldn’t take it anymore, he brought down Steve so they could switch role and then he sat on his soulmate hips. Steve’s was already red from his forehead to his collarbones.

“ _So are you just going to try things like that whenever you want?_ ”

“ _Would you let me?_ ”

Steve’s smile was beautiful, Sam thought, but he couldn’t let himself fall for that. As tempting as all of this was, he couldn’t ignore his dark thoughts about the whole situation.

“ _Steve, I…_ ” Of course, Steve could see his doubts on his face, the flirty moment definitely gone. Sam hoped that his soulmate knew that kisses couldn’t magically fix everything between them “ _I don’t know if I can_ ” Sam finished.

Steve sighted heavily, gathering his thoughts “ _Can we talk about it or have you already made your decision?_ ” he asked. His eyes alternatively on Sam’s face or in his lap.

“ _I don’t want us to fight again, but, man, if it hadn’t been for this mark, you would never have looked at me like that twice_ ”

“ _This isn’t one hundred percent true. I already thought you were handsome and one of the best people I knew. But, you’re right, I may have never acted on it. I won’t lie to you Sam, I’m still trying to wrap my head about the whole gay…no, not gay but..uh, bisexual thing I guess. I think I had already felt some types of way for men before but I never considered it like that. Clearly_ ” Steve explained.

The lack of “ _sorry_ ” was intentional, Sam thought, and understandable. After all, it was what it was, Steve had no reason to apologize for thinking he was straight up until a certain point in his life.

“ _I get that Steve, believe me, I do. But we know each other for so long and you never…like, we slept in the same bed so many times man, and not a single time…And now you kiss me and act as if that was normal…_ ”

“ _I don’t know what to say. I’m just glad it’s you_ ” Steve tried to explain.

Sam bit his lips, “ _It didn’t worked out for you and Peggy, how can I…_ ” he stopped, closing his eyes and passing a hand on his face “ _I’m fucking scared_ ”

“ _I’m scared too Sam, the only reason I’m even bold enough to talk about this it’s because it’s you! I wish I could make promises and say that we will be fine but…Listen; I want to take that risk with you. Come on, look at me, please_ ” Steve demanded, trying to nudge Sam to get his eyes on him instead of everywhere else “ _I’m going through this because I know you are worth fighting for_ ”

An alarm in Sam screamed “ _this is too good to be true_ ” but he had to shut down the noise. He had a soulmate and was lucky enough that this was someone he had feelings for prior to the mark apparition. It did not mean that this was a perfect situation, but he could not let his own insecurities sabotage his one cosmic chance at being with someone. Steve was ready to try for him, it meant something.

How many stories did he heard of soulmates that never work and grew miserable because no matter what they tried, they always ended up near each other? At least, until death did them apart, and even then…Erica had to deal with a whole vampire clan trying to get her to accept her soulbond, Sam knew. If she ever said yes, at one point, she will have to be turned and as crazy as it may sound, Sam understood, because her soulmate would not let her die or old age if she could prevent it, that was for sure.

He followed Steve through fights, fire, and war, who would have guessed that allowing Steve closer emotionally would be what got Sam to pause.

“ _This is crazy, you know that, right?_ ”

Steve smiled brightly, which, as usual, made Sam think that this man was beautiful “ _We do crazy pretty often already, so, what do you say?_ ”

Sam passed a hand in his short curly hair, avoiding the blue eyes for a second “ _You know you can’t keep that self-sacrifice shit if we get together? You have to come back to me, no matter what is at stake_ ,” he enunciated. It was probably the most selfish thing Sam had ever said to someone, but it was something that needed to be said. As soulmates, you were not just living for yourself anymore and he wanted to be sure Steve understood that.

“ _You know we can’t promise that to each other Sammy_ ”

“ _Yes, we can. It means something to be soulmates Steve and I want you to understand that one hundred percent. We come back home, no matter what, that’s my red line_ ”

They looked at each other, knowing how difficult it would be to maintain something like this. They knew the cost of a life and how, for them, it was easier to put themselves on the line than to risk the life of anyone else. That said Sam saw first-hand what a soulmate becomes when they lose their other half. Shell of themselves, losing their will to live to the point of being suicidal, hallucinations… He already had a taste with Riley and they weren’t soulmates, he knew if that happened to Steve, he wouldn’t be strong enough. People thought having a soulmate was the best thing ever, and on one hand, it was, but the price was high.

Steve looked way less enthusiastic as he thought hard about what he was getting into. Whether they dated or not, there was a link between them, they needed to keep that in mind. Besides, Steve experienced Sam dying already so this wasn’t a wild topic to speak about. It was still a sore point for Sam, to think that he come back from the dead and Steve just left, he wasn’t proud of his own reaction, avoidance, but it had really hurt his pride in a way people would never be able to do besides Steve. He wasn’t about to fault him however for being in love with someone else and follow his heart after five years in hell following a war were he could have died more than once.

“ _I get it_ ” Steve finally accepted, “ _I’ll do my best to come back to you Sam, if you’ll have me_ ”

Sam nodded, letting a heavy breathe out before finally getting out of bed. Did it meant that they were together now? He wasn’t sure. It seemed so.

“ _Just so we are clear, are we, you know, like, together now or…?_ ”

As an answer, Steve groaned and threw himself back on the bed with his eyes closed. It wasn’t clear exactly what that was supposed to mean in Sam’s opinion but he decided not to insist and go take a shower instead. A few minutes later, while he was still under the water, Steve made his way inside and started brushing his teeth. Without any comment, they exchanged placed once done, something they had did previously a lot of times, yet it still felt different this time. For the first time he felt allowed to “look” at Steve without immediately shaming himself right away.

After giving Steve some clothes and get another glimpse at his muscular derriere, they started to prepare breakfast together. Steve seemed to be suddenly quite clumsy as he accidentally bumped into Sam each time he was looking for something. After the fourth time, Sam turned in annoyance, leaving his eggs out of the heat.

“ _Dude, what are you…_ ”

Lips were on his, cutting the end of his sentence in a _humph_. In a matter of seconds, Sam’s ass was dangerously near the hot pan and Steve had his hands on his hips, way more confident about this than Sam who slowly decided to put his hands on the big blond shoulders and neck. When Steve started to get things to another level, Sam had to put a stop to it, feeling a bubbly dizziness that still left him with a smile that he had to work hard to scowl away, especially with how deceived Steve looked.

“ _Dude! Let’s eat first and then we can, well, kiss and shit_ ”

“ _For some reasons, I thought you were smoother, Wilson, when it came to these kind of things_ ” Steve commented teasingly.

“ _I am plenty smooth, you just make me nervous_ ,” Sam admitted, going back to the eggs and pressing his hardness against the furniture in an attempt to feel some relief.

Steve started to smile but his eyes were still dark with, if Sam was right, want “ _Lil’ol’ me? Making you nervous? Really?_ ”

“ _Eat, Rogers_ ”

So, Steve did, by almost putting the whole plate in his mouth in one go and looking oh so smug about it, that before Sam even touched his coffee. It backfired on him thought, since Sam took his sweet time to eat. They both knew he had to be ready for an interview in an hour so Steve started to keep an eye on the clock, his leg getting a little bit bouncy. Sam didn’t even pretended to eat at a normal pace, sipping obnoxiously loud his coffee little by little and biting the smallest part of his toast.

“ ** _SAM_** ”

He laughed, having to put the small cup down on the table. Steve got up and tried to caught his soulmate but he escaped, his poor chair however ended up on the floor. Nothing more was needed to transform this into a challenge in Steve’s eyes and Sam knew it so he tried to warn him and keep his distances but it was a lost cause and they ended up falling on the couch, avoiding the coffee table only by chance.

“ _You are a menace, Steve_ ”

“ _We have less than half an hour together because you purposely ate like a snail_ ”

Facing Steve pout right above him, Sam gave him a soft smile “ _We have a life together, what are you talking about?_ ”

Oh, the magic words, they made Steve pinker in the face and puff his chest. He even helped Sam get on his feet with a beaming smile only to surround him with his arms in a hug “ _I like this idea_ ” he said, placing his large hand on his soulmate’s cheek “ _I love this_ ”

“ _Acting like a little gremlin?_ ”

“ _No, I mean, yeah_ ” Steve gave a chuckle while taking him in his arms “ _but this, us. You. I love you_ ”

Sam felt the words from the top of his hair to the tip of his tows “ _Me too, Steve, have been for a long time_ ”

He remembered the first time he talked to Steve, how he wondered what Captain America could possibly want from a guy like him. He remembered how at ease they felt with each other, some sort of instant connection he never really experienced like that. At the time, he believed he would never see him again as they didn’t exchanged numbers or mail addresses and yet, Steve came to him on his own will.

He always dismissed it these days, when their friends would joke that they may have been dating for years prior to Thanos. It sure didn’t feel like it for Sam. At the time, his feelings seemed, at best, unrequited and almost like a betrayal. Steve offered him his friendship, something Sam knew he was lacking in the modern day, and he started to have a part of his heart falling in love with him. Even if he had known then that Steve would have been receptive to the idea of an “us”, maybe he wouldn’t have changed anything.

As he touched Steve’s mark with his fingertips, he felt a gentle vibration in all his body; he smiled and start thinking about the future, their future.

* * *

Two weeks later, they decide to go on some well deserved holidays.

Rectification, they are basically kidnapped by Bucky who wanted to go on an island and, for once in his modern life, relax. Wanda, Sharon, Okoye and T'Challa were there as well to enjoy this tropical pause for a few days.

" _We could have gone into space_ " Sharon said, her little hat threatening to fly away because of a sudden gush of wind " _but I admit, this is kind of beautiful_ "

" _You mean the beach or Okoye?_ " Bucky joked, seeing perfectly well how his friend's eyes were glued to the tall black woman and the sporty red and gold swimsuit she was currently wearing, chasing T'Challa in something that, unfortunately for him, let the observer appreciate the royal service a little too well.

Sharon took her creamy sun block and squirted it on Bucky's face for all answer.

Wanda was sitting next to Sam on the beach, far away from the water for now and half attempting to build a sandcastle without powers or any tool. The two of them had many talent but sand construction was not one of them so they changed plan to play "Who is that?" is the sand.

She started to laugh widely at Sam's attempt as he started to get frustrated for some reason.

" _Who...who even.._." she started again " _Is that Luke Cage?_ "

" _Girl, what? No!_ "

"Who look like that? Don't tell me it's Nebula, please"

" _Ding, ding ding_ "

" _These brows_ " she pointed at the two large shells Sam used, giving his portrait less a Nebula look and more of a Jojo character appearance somehow.

" **SAMMY!** "

" _Uh oh_ "

Sam turned to see Steve, holding on in his right hand the book he was reading earlier and that Sam may or may not have accidentally drenched in the coffee he insisted on bringing while Steve told him two times not to put next to his book in their beach bag.

Getting on his feet, he started to bolt in direction of the see, jumping over T'Challa who had to avoid a charging Steve at full speed. Too bad for Sam, he hesitated for too long and Steve caught him, grab him waits and threw him in the water like a potatoe bag, his scream soon muffled by the water. When he got his head out, eyes not even open, he could feel the presence next to him holding him. He let his legs capture Steve to bring him closer so he could give him a salty kiss. It was innocent enough until a hand founded it's way under his brief to palm his generous ass.

" _Oh my god, you...not here!_ " he chastised, feeling embarrassed but a little bit turn on at the same time.

" _That's payback for my book_ " Steve said, too hands now feelings quite adventurous.

" _My soulmate is a pervert_ "

Steve wiggled his eyebrow " _Yes, I am, I could eat you out for breakfast, lunch and diner_ "

Despite the tone, Steve look was filled with adoration and genuine tenderness. He abandoned his lover's ass to put his arms around his neck and kiss him again.

" _Go to your room! Booooo_ " Sharon and Bucky started to scream from the beach but they didn't care, too busy with each other.

" _I love you Steve_ " Sam whispered just for him.

" _I love you too Sammy_ "

**Fin**


End file.
